Why are academically gifted students from poor families less likely to attend top-ranked colleges

and universities than equally smart kids from wealthy families?

Alexandria Walton Radford, who directs research on students transitions to college and
postsecondary education for the Washington, D.C.-based firm RTI International, recently posed
this question to me as we talked over steaming cups of java downtown.
I didnt have an answer, but Radford did. In fact, shes studied the question and offers insights in
her recently published book, Top Student, Top School? How Social Class Shapes Where
Valedictorians Go to College. In the book, she analyzes the High School Valedictorian Project, a
national study of top-achieving students that sought to pinpoint when, how, and why highly
accomplished public school students choose to apply and enroll in their respective colleges. The
findings were discouraging, including:
Only 3 percent of students at the 146 most-selective public and private colleges in America are
from the bottom socioeconomic quartile.
Just 10 percent of students attending one of U.S. News & World Reports top 30 public and
private universities are from families with incomes less than $30,000.
Sixty-seven percent of incoming freshmen at the countrys top 193 most-selective colleges
come from the top income quartile. Twelve percent come from the second quartile and only 15
percent come from the bottom two quartiles.
At the prestigious public University of Michigan, more freshmen come from families with an
annual income of $200,000 or more than from families with an annual income below the national
median of $53,000.
To be clear, those figures speak to the overall picture. The students that Radford studied were all
highly qualified and, without regard to family incomes or other class markers, were the
valedictorians in their respective high schools. Yet the overwhelming majority of poorer students
chose not to even apply to the nations more challenging and prestigious universities.
Although some might believe that those enrollment patterns are the result of more-affluent
students being better academically prepared, preparation differences by social class are unable
to fully account for this phenomenon, Radford writes.
So whats the difference? During our conversation, she explained that students from lower
socioeconomic families encounter a virtual wall of resistance that blocks them from even applying
to colleges where theyre capable of attending and succeeding.
At the top of the list is the presumption that they cant afford it, Radford said, adding that many
of the top schools have need-blind admissions and offer financial assistance that would cover
nearly all the costs for the neediest students. But they dont know this because nobody has
made it clear how college admissions work.
As it stands, bright but poor high school students are left to figure out the maze of college
applications and financial aid forms on their own. Unfortunately, that opens the door for those with
more information and accesschildren of affluent and college-educated familiesto have a
tremendous advantage even before any of them set foot on a campus.
Typically, low-income students live in low-income school districts where nobody has attended
highly selective colleges. In all too many cases, school administrators and guidance counselors
dont know the rules, procedures, and financial aid regulations well enough to encourage topperforming students to apply.
For the most part, these students will attend a local college or a technical school near their
homes, if they attend at all, because its all they know or have been told about, Radford told me.

This doesnt have to be the case. Radford believes colleges should do a better job of making it
clear to prospective studentsespecially those in isolated and impoverished communitiesthat a
place is available to them if they have studied and prepared to grab it. As Radford writes in a
recent article for The Atlantic:
Ensuring that students and their families have access to the tools they need to be informed
college consumers can help fix this problem. The availability of need-based financial aid for
families across the socioeconomic spectrum, including middle- and even upper-middle-class
families, must be better publicized. Furthermore, families should assess a colleges affordability
based on its net pricethe price paid after financial aidrather than its sticker price, and the net
price calculators now required on colleges websites can help them do so. Also, in weighing a
colleges overall value families should look beyond cost and consider graduation and employment
outcomes as well. In addition, public schools should replace one-size-fits-all college
counseling with quality, tailored advice based on students academic preparation. Finally, colleges
should improve their outreach to less affluent students so that these students become familiar
withand feel more comfortable applying tocolleges that match their achievements.
Radfords work and warning demands attention because our workforce increasingly depends
upon a highly educated and skilled population. On the ladder toward success in employment,
social contacts, and life opportunities, the contacts made and fostered on college campuses
become more vital. College selection is a first, giant step toward leveling the playing field.
Yet our existing system that steers poor kids to lesser schools and rich kids to prestigious
universities makes it easier for the disadvantagesand advantagesof the past to carry on to
successive generations. As much as we dont like to believe it, Americas stark class stratification
begins at the schoolhouse door. It must not be allowed to matriculate further into the nations
colleges and universities.
Sam Fulwood III is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and Director of the CAP
Leadership Institute. His work with the Centers Progress 2050 project examines the impact of
policies on the nation when there will be no clear racial or ethnic majority by the year 2050.What
are some of the advantages and disadvantages of economic growth?
A:
Quick Answer
Among the key advantages of economic growth are improved standards of living, increased
employment and investment in cleaner technologies, while some of the major disadvantages are
the risk of inflation, pollution and deforestation, traffic congestion and excessive household waste.
There are also concerns about the sustainability of economic growth, particularly given the finite
nature of the Earth's resources, including rainforests and fish stocks.
Continue Reading
Keep Learning
What are the advantages and disadvantages of mercantilism?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a monopoly?
How does unemployment influence and affect economic growth?
Full Answer
Other environmental problems that have been observed as a result of economic growth include
overpopulation in cities and the extinction of many species, which results in a reduction of
biodiversity.
Nevertheless, it has been suggested that while economic growth may have a number of
associated problems, the absence of economic growth is far more toxic to a society than its
presence. Certainly technologically-driven growth has led to increases in profits and, therefore,

often wages as well, not to mention better healthcare and rises in life expectancy.
Such advantages are not necessarily felt by all members of society equally, however. The Gini
coefficient, which measures income and wealth inequalities by nation, has found that many
countries undergoing periods of rapid growth, including the United States, have extreme
imbalances of income between the richest and the poorest citizens. Other developed countries,
however, such as Japan and Denmark, have been found to have far more income equality.
Learn more about Economics
Sources:
tutor2u.netWhat are some of the advantages and disadvantages of economic growth?
A:
Quick Answer
Among the key advantages of economic growth are improved standards of living, increased
employment and investment in cleaner technologies, while some of the major disadvantages are
the risk of inflation, pollution and deforestation, traffic congestion and excessive household waste.
There are also concerns about the sustainability of economic growth, particularly given the finite
nature of the Earth's resources, including rainforests and fish stocks.
Continue Reading
Keep Learning
What are the advantages and disadvantages of mercantilism?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a monopoly?
How does unemployment influence and affect economic growth?
Full Answer
Other environmental problems that have been observed as a result of economic growth include
overpopulation in cities and the extinction of many species, which results in a reduction of
biodiversity.
Nevertheless, it has been suggested that while economic growth may have a number of
associated problems, the absence of economic growth is far more toxic to a society than its
presence. Certainly technologically-driven growth has led to increases in profits and, therefore,
often wages as well, not to mention better healthcare and rises in life expectancy.
Such advantages are not necessarily felt by all members of society equally, however. The Gini
coefficient, which measures income and wealth inequalities by nation, has found that many
countries undergoing periods of rapid growth, including the United States, have extreme
imbalances of income between the richest and the poorest citizens. Other developed countries,
however, such as Japan and Denmark, have been found to have far more income equality.
Learn more about Economics
Sources:
tutor2u.netWhat are some of the advantages and disadvantages of economic growth?
A:
Quick Answer
Among the key advantages of economic growth are improved standards of living, increased
employment and investment in cleaner technologies, while some of the major disadvantages are
the risk of inflation, pollution and deforestation, traffic congestion and excessive household waste.
There are also concerns about the sustainability of economic growth, particularly given the finite
nature of the Earth's resources, including rainforests and fish stocks.
Continue Reading
Keep Learning
What are the advantages and disadvantages of mercantilism?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a monopoly?

How does unemployment influence and affect economic growth?
Full Answer
Other environmental problems that have been observed as a result of economic growth include
overpopulation in cities and the extinction of many species, which results in a reduction of
biodiversity.
Nevertheless, it has been suggested that while economic growth may have a number of
associated problems, the absence of economic growth is far more toxic to a society than its
presence. Certainly technologically-driven growth has led to increases in profits and, therefore,
often wages as well, not to mention better healthcare and rises in life expectancy.
Such advantages are not necessarily felt by all members of society equally, however. The Gini
coefficient, which measures income and wealth inequalities by nation, has found that many
countries undergoing periods of rapid growth, including the United States, have extreme
imbalances of income between the richest and the poorest citizens. Other developed countries,
however, such as Japan and Denmark, have been found to have far more income equality.
Learn more about Economics
Sources:
tutor2u.netQuick Answer
Some of the disadvantages that can result from a company becoming overly focused on profit
maximization are the ignoring of risk factors, a lessening or loss of transparency and the
compromising of ethics and good business practices. Some profit maximization strategies may
produce short-term results that ignore potentially costly situations developing in the long run.
Poorly planned short-term profit maximization can also lead to a negative public perception that
can significantly affect future sales.
Continue Reading
Keep Learning
What is profit maximization?
Why is profit maximization an inappropriate goal?
What is the profit maximizing rule?
Full Answer
Profit maximization is an obvious goal of management, but it does not necessarily imply that
short-term profit increases will produce long-term sustainable gains. For example, a reduction in
product quality that lowers production costs will produce a quick increase in profit, but lowered
quality standards can also tarnish a company's reputation and provide the competition with an
advantage.
Lowering or eliminating a company's employee training or research and development budget will
lessen operating expenses and also maximize short-term profits. However, the competition may
not follow suit and instead produce a much better product or service. The long-term result could
be a significant loss of market share for the company that decided to lower its budget to pursue a
short-term profit gain.
Learn more about EconomicsQuick Answer
Profit maximization is the course of action a business takes to make the highest return from the
goods or services they offer. One major way businesses achieve profit maximization is through
reduction of production costs.
Continue Reading
Keep Learning

What is profit maximization?

Why is unearned revenue considered a liability?
What are some disadvantages of profit maximization?
Full Answer
According to Investor Words, businesses also maximize profit by adjusting the price of products
and services or by adjusting production levels. Making the most money possible is a positive for
the business, but consumers sometimes suffer as prices rise or as quality decreases. The ideal
situation for both parties is for the business to maintain quality at a reasonable cost while still
making a healthy profit.