Dive Brief:
- Moody’s Investors Service studied the 503 schools it rates and found the wealth gap across them is growing.
- BloombergBusiness reports that the 40 schools at the top of the distribution hold nearly two-thirds of the combined assets of all 503.
- According to the Boston Globe, the wealthiest schools recovered from the Great Recession faster than their peers and rely less on tuition, allowing them to diversify their campuses and maintain steady ground, unlike the less wealthy schools — some of which are struggling to survive.
Dive Insight:
The latest report from Moody’s illustrates that the higher education landscape mirrors the United States’ wealth gap among individuals at both extremes of the financial spectrum. Inequality is growing. Top schools like Harvard — which had $42.8 billion as of last June, according to Moody’s — have the benefit of wealthy alumni donors and significant investments that many struggling schools at the middle of the distribution do not. The Boston Globe’s point about this situation giving wealthy institutions the luxury of creating diversity is an important one. As the country pushes for more income diversity on campuses, struggling schools will be penalized in the public eye for failing to offer financial aid dollars they just don’t have.