Public univ students “far richer and far whiter”

The Education Trust nonprofit research institute has released a new analysis of federal data concluding that 50 public flagships, one in each state, “continue to enroll students who are far richer and far whiter” than most in their states, says Director Kati Haycock.

“The report also reveals a grievous imbalance in the way many of these institutions distribute financial aid to students. Public flagship and research universities spend millions of dollars every year subsidizing wealthy students who don’t need aid, while providing inadequate support to low-income and minority students who do.  Although low-income students receive higher grant awards than wealthy students on average, flagships spend almost exactly the same amount to aid students in the top two quintiles of family income as they do to aid students in the bottom two quintiles.

In fact, the typical low-income student at these institutions is left with an “unmet” financial need equivalent to about 70 percent of his or her family’s annual income. Meanwhile, students at our leading public universities are looking less and less like the state populations these institutions were founded to serve.”

See news release here (or download complete report)