Dive Summary:
- Many public universities are leaving low-income students behind as the schools grapple with shrinking budgets, a ProPublica analysis shows.
- A study of new data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that public colleges and universities are giving a smaller and smaller portion of grants to students in the lowest quartile of family income.
- As a result, educating low-income students has become the territory of community colleges and for-profit schools over the last 20 years.
From the article:
... Why have public universities across the nation shifted their aid? "For some schools, they're trying to climb to the top of the rankings. For other schools, it's more about revenue generation," said Donald R. Hossler, a professor of educational leadership and policy studies at Indiana University at Bloomington. To achieve those goals, colleges use their aid to draw wealthier students—especially those from out of state, who will pay more in tuition—or higher-achieving students, whose scores will give the colleges a boost in the rankings. ...
