Promoting Economic Diversity in Americas Elite Colleges

1
Promoting Economic Diversity in Americas Elite
Colleges

• Council for Opportunity in Education
• September 14, 2004

2
Extent of Economic Diversity Today
Source Anthony P. Carnevale and Stephen J. Rose,
Socioeconomic Status, Race/Ethnicity and
Selective College Admissions, The Century
Foundation, New York, March 2003, Table 1.1.
3
Race as a Proxy for Economic Disadvantage

• At 28 selective colleges studied by Bowen and
  Bok, 86 of African Americans were middle or
  upper middle class.
• Source William Bowen and Derek Bok, The Shape of
  the River (Princeton University Press, 1998), p.
  49, Figure 2.12.

4
Extent of Economic Affirmative Action Today
Source Carnevale and Rose, Socioeconomic
Status, p. 47.
5
Economic Affirmative Action

• Carnevale and Rose Simulation of Economic
  Affirmative Action in Top 146 colleges.
• Pool consisting of
• (1) all students who have good grades and score
  above 1300 on the SAT (or the ACT equivalent),
  plus
• (2) economically disadvantaged students with
  high grades and test scores (between 1000 and
  1300 on the SAT).

6
Economic Affirmative Action

• Economic disadvantage defined as
• (1) being in the bottom 40 percent by
  socioeconomic status (defined as parents income,
  education, and occupation) and/or
• (2) attending high schools with a high
  percentage (gt25) of students eligible for free
  and reduced price lunch or low percentage (lt25)
  of seniors going on to four year colleges.
• Lottery admissions within this pool of
  students.
• The top 146 colleges represent the most
  selective 10 percent of four-year colleges and
  are at the heart of the debate over affirmative
  action policies.

Source Carnevale and Rose, Socioeconomic
Status, pp. 6, 42, and 54.
7
Economic Diversity
Source Carnevale and Rose, Socioeconomic
Status, pp. 47 and 55.
8
Economic Affirmative Action Graduation Rates
Source Carnevale and Rose, Socioeconomic
Status, p. 55
9
Economic Affirmative Action Public Support
Source EPIC/MRA poll (conducted January
29February 3, 2003) Los Angeles Times poll
(conducted January 30February 2, 2003) and
Newsweek poll (conducted January 1617, 2003).
10
First Wave Economic Factors in Place of Race

• University of California comprehensive
  reviewexamining academic accomplishments in
  light of such obstacles as low family income,
  first generation to attend college, and
  disadvantaged social or educational
  environment.
• University of Washington academic achievement
  in the context of such factors as family income,
  number in family, parents educational level,
  and high school free lunch percent.
• University of Florida Profile Assessment a
  leg up to students who are poor, attend a low
  performing high school, or whose parents didnt
  attend college.

11
First Wave Economic Diversity in Place of Race

• University Texas considers obstacles such as
  the socioeconomic background of the applicant,
  whether the applicant would be the first
  generation of his or her family to attend or
  graduate from an institution of higher
  education, and the financial status of the
  applicants school district.
• University of California at Los Angeles Law
  School academic accomplishments in light of
  highest level of education attained by parents
  parent primary occupation number of years spent
  in a single-parent home age of applicant at the
  time of a parents death (if applicable) total
  parent income and assets during the previous year
  and explanation, if given, if level of income was
  different during applicants high school years
  number of hours worked per week during college
  years and any statement provided describing
  socioeconomic disadvantages overcome.

12
Economic and Racial Diversity at UCLA Law School
Source Andrea Sossin-Bergman, director of
admissions, UCLA Law School, November 2002
13
Economic and Racial Diversity at UCLA Law School
Source Sossin-Bergman, November 2002
14
Second Wave Economic Diversity on top of Race

• Lawrence Summers, Harvard University
• William Bowen, Mellon Foundation
• Anthony Marx, Amherst College
• Additional initiatives UNC, UVA, Princeton

15
Next Steps

• Valuing Economic Diversity, and Collecting Data
• Financial Aid Policy (Lawrence Gladieux)
• Broader Issues of Preparation (Michael Timpane
  and Arthur Hauptman)
• The Role of Trio Programs

16
Contact Information and Sources

• Richard D. Kahlenberg
• Senior Fellow
• The Century Foundation
• 1755 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
• Washington, D.C. 20036
• 202-745-5476
• kahlenberg_at_tcf.org
• www.tcf.org www.equaleducation.org
• Americas Untapped Resource Low-Income Students
  in Higher Education (Century Foundation Press,
  2004), edited by Richard D. Kahlenberg, with
  chapters by Anthony Carnevale and Stephen Rose
  Michael Timpane and Arthur Hauptman and Lawrence
  Gladieux.
• Richard D. Kahlenberg, The Remedy Class, Race,
  and Affirmative Action (New York Basic Books,
  1996)