On Top of the News
At White House, College Chiefs Pledge More Equitable Access
1/17/14 | Boston Globe
Behind the Headline
Expanding College Opportunities
Fall 2013 | Education Next
More than 80 college presidents came to the White House last week for a summit to address access to college for poor and minority students. The summit called attention to programs that are helping disadvantaged students succeed in college and was meant to inspire other schools to do more.
A study conducted by Caroline Hoxby and Sarah Turner that was published in Ed Next found that high-achieving low-income students are more likely to apply to and enroll in selective colleges if they are provided with good information about college quality and costs. For the study, a randomized group of students were sent application guidance, semicustomized information about the net cost of attending different colleges, and no-paperwork application fee waivers. The cost of the Expanding College Opportunities intervention was about $6 per student, yet it caused high-achieving, low-income students to apply and be admitted to more colleges, especially to more of those with high graduation rates and generous instructional resources
“No Excuses Kids Go to College,” an article by Robert Pondiscio that appears in the Spring 2013 issue of Education Next describes efforts by KIPP to steer its graduates to good colleges. Pondiscio visited a special program at Franklin & Marshall College, which has partnered with KIPP in an effort to improve college persistence and graduation rates of KIPP alumni.
-Education Next
