High-schoolers
from lower-income families are confronted with more barriers when it comes to
getting into college than their better-off peers.
The Hechinger Report described several hurdles, including a recent College Board
study that found grade-point averages (GPAs) at affluent suburban and private
high schools had risen at the same time their students averaged lower scores on
college admissions tests, strongly indicating grade inflation. GPAs at urban
high schools, with a higher percentage of students in poverty, showed little
change, though.
With
more colleges and universities basing admissions decisions on GPAs instead of
tests, grade inflation at wealthier schools puts low-income students at an
immediate disadvantage in applying. “This is especially an issue for the big
universities and colleges that can’t really dig into the context of a kid’s
high school experience,” commented an official at the Harvard Graduate School
of Education.
Urban
high schools are also less likely to offer college-preparatory courses or have
enough guidance counselors to help advise students on how to apply for college,
according to The Hechinger Report.
Another
recent study conducted by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and summarized by Education Dive, revealed low-income students make up only a small percentage of enrollees
at selective colleges. The study showed qualified students often didn’t even
apply to these colleges because they had no information about financial-aid
packages or funds to visit campuses first, among other problems.