Dive Brief:
- Colleges and universities throughout the country are becoming less economically diverse, according to the New York Times college access index for this year.
- The Pell share in the freshman class at University of California San Diego, for example, dropped from 46% to 26%, and experts are speculating it is because institutions feel they cannot afford low-income student support.
- Public colleges and universities began slashing budgets in the aftermath of the financial crisis through 2009 and 2010. Though such budget austerity has ceased for the most part, state support for higher ed is down 18% since 2008.
Dive Insight:
Colleges and universities have been slashing budgets due to declining state funding, as well as decreased enrollment and lower tuition revenue, for several years, but many institutions, particularly private, selective schools, are taking in lower rates of Pell Grant students regardless of student achievement. As the debate over how much of an institution's endowment pool should go towards support for low-income students, many question the sufficiency of current outreach and admissions practices. Conversations about access are moot if there are not real efforts being made to reach out to schools, districts and communities serving low-income students to attract students from all economic walks of life.