The head of a charitable foundation says low income students are finding it hard to get into college. He asks, “why aren’t we helping them?’
In a recent op-ed piece on Foxnews.com Harold O. Levy, executive director of Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, complains that across America outstanding students from families with low incomes are being kept out of top colleges and universities by almost insurmountable obstacles.
His foundation recently concluded a study that found a mere 3 percent of students at America’s most selective colleges and universities come from the 25 percent of families with the lowest incomes.
In contrast, 72 percent of students at the schools come from the 25 percent of families with the highest incomes.
He concludes: the rich aren’t necessarily smarter, they’re just getting breaks the poor aren’t.
The research found that the few outstanding low-income students who make it into the top schools have proven they can succeed, with over 92 percent graduating with excellent grades.
He are some examples of what calls “preferential treatment for the rich”:
Over 80 percent of top colleges give an admissions preference to children of alumni, known as a “legacy preference.”
Many selective colleges give preferential admissions to student athletes – not just football and basketball players, but students who play sports available almost exclusively to affluent white teens, such as crew, squash, sailing, riding and water polo.
Twice as many upper income students as low-income students take prep courses to boost their scores on the SAT and ACT exams, which play a major role in college admissions.
Colleges and universities often favor mediocre who can pay all of the costs of attending.