Disadvantaged Students Are Getting the Wrong Message About Elite Universities
Prestigious private schools with large endowments are often a better bargain than state schools
For over a decade, I asked the students in the lecture class I taught on social inequality at Northwestern University to explain why they thought Northwestern had accepted them. They gave the answers you’d expect: strong SAT scores, an alumni parent, being the valedictorian, getting straight A’s, having perfect pitch or a 130 MPH serve, or volunteering at a homeless shelter.
Next, I asked, “Who convinced you to apply?” The answer was usually parents, guidance counselors, friends, or coaches. But a surprising number of students answered, “Nobody.”
“Nobody?” I repeated, shocked. These students would explain that no one ever talked to them about aiming for the Ivy League or other highly selective schools. I quickly figured out that these students were usually from cultures and communities where a school like Northwestern or Harvard might as well be a million miles away.
In fact, very few of my Northwestern students came from urban and rural economically challenged communities. Those who did had taken the big step of applying to Northwestern with little encouragement or support. No one urged them to aim high and gamble on applying to very selective schools. That’s in part because college admissions officers rarely visit or actively recruit from most urban and rural high schools.
Six years ago, I moved to a New York State farming community and saw the same pattern from a different perspective. At the local public high school my kids attended, parents, guidance counselors, and teachers encouraged students to apply to affordable schools that were a shoe-in. Even those with top grades in tough classes opted for state schools and less prestigious private colleges.
Then I talked to Jacob Kronenberg, a family friend, who attended a prestigious private high school for gifted students. Jacob’s SAT scores were perfect, and he speaks five languages fluently — but because he’d received financial aid, his counselors steered him toward an affordable state university rather than top private schools. Jacob fortunately decided to aim for some elite private schools as well, and Tufts University came through with a full ride.
Economically challenged students are commonly told that state schools are the affordable gateway to success. Yet underfunded state schools with smaller endowments just can’t compete with selective schools’ financial aid packages. Thanks to their extremely large endowments, elite schools can easily meet their goal of fulfilling the financial needs of every student who qualifies for admittance.
Nor should economically challenged students with strong academic records be discouraged by high SAT averages and low acceptance rates. Colleges and universities, no matter how selective, are looking for diversity and are willing to pay for it. In fact, 70% of Harvard undergraduates receive financial aid. Admissions folks like to place their bets on a scrappy, self-sufficient kid of a single mom versus the coddled student who crumbles at their first B.
Kids from poor families deserve to know that if they’re accepted to by one of the 20–50 most selective schools in the country, money probably won’t be a barrier — and they’ll gain life-altering opportunities. Why do application rates still far outnumber acceptance rates at America’s top schools? Because rich families understand that these schools offer phenomenal courses, inspiring and accessible teachers, beautiful surroundings — the best that college life has to offer.
Attending an elite school also goes a long way toward opening doors that would otherwise be firmly shut. At some of them, professors routinely mentor and publish with undergrads. And alumni networks at prestigious schools are invaluable for graduates. For example, at Northwestern (Stephen Colbert’s alma mater), a Hollywood alumni support organization helps new grads find jobs in the entertainment industry.
Then there are the internships and jobs available to students at very selective schools after graduation. Law firms, for example, often hire based on where undergraduates went to school instead of how well they performed there. Similarly, the top medical schools favor undergrads from Harvard, George Washington, and some premier state schools. And in the business world, certain schools have a leg up.
Armed with networks and opportunity, students from economically challenged families will succeed on their own terms and hopefully change the world. Consider the educational routes of Presidents Obama and Clinton, who came from tough circumstances: For Clinton it was Yale and Oxford, and for Obama, Columbia University and Harvard Law.
If admitted to a “reach school,” sons and daughters of poor families belong there just as much, if not more, as the student who needs no financial aid and has an alumni parent. Once on campus, they will be ready to reap the rewards of their top education and make their communities proud. “High Achieving, lower income students who start at selective institutions have similar grades and graduation rates as higher income peers,” according to a report by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, which provides scholarships and grants to exceptional low-income students.
The common refrain that selective colleges aren’t worth the price and that state schools are a better value is contributing to an ever-widening gap between the wealthy and the poor. If we don’t encourage economically challenged and diverse students to apply to our country’s top schools, our best schools will resemble what they used to be: old boys’ clubs where only the rich were allowed to join.
