Dive Brief:
- Grinnell College runs a costly need-blind admissions policy that has helped it increase its portion of Pell Grant recipients on campus to nearly 25%, but some have questioned whether the program is sustainable.
- Grinnell’s board of trustees recently committed to continuing the need-blind policy following increased fundraising efforts, additional recruitment of full-pay international students, and a plan to carefully decrease merit aid.
- Stephen Burd writes for The Hechinger Report that Grinnell’s long history of social activism and commitment to “social responsibility” created a foundation for defending the need-blind admission policy, and the college has been successful at recruiting low-income students through aggressive outreach and participation in programs like the Posse Foundation, Questbridge, and Chicago Scholars.
Dive Insight:
Elite colleges and universities have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years to recruit underrepresented students, including racial minorities and those from low-income families. Research showing the frequency with which low-income and minority students “undermatch” has created new urgency.
Vassar College, like Grinnell, has maintained a long commitment to a diverse student body, taking the financial steps necessary to achieve that. Colby College, in Maine, has recently begun a more concerted effort to recruit low-income and minority students under the leadership of newly hired president David Greene. In his first year, Greene has overseen a spike in applications, amid a broader culture shift toward valuing diversity at all levels of the organization. Campus protests in recent months, too, have inspired fresh commitments to diversity that are likely to shape operations for years to come.