100 Top Colleges Vow To Enroll More Low-Income Students

College access and affordability: It's a common topic in higher education — because college is the one place that can really be a catapult when it comes to moving up the economic ladder.

And yet, research has shown that just 3 percent of high-achieving, low-income students attend America's most selective colleges. And, it's not that these students just aren't there — every year tens of thousands of top students who don't come from wealthy families never even apply to elite colleges.

Universities are taking note — and banding together under something called the American Talent Initiative — a network backed by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Aspen Institute and the research firm Ithaka S+R.

To join the club, schools have to graduate 70 percent of their students in six years — a qualification that leaves just under 300 schools in the U.S. eligible. Nearly a third of those schools — exactly 100 — have signed on.

Their goal? Enroll 50,000 additional low- and moderate-income students by 2025.

Each school has its own goals, too — many want to increase the number of Pell Grant students on campus, others aim to improve graduation rates — but they're all on board to share strategies, learn from each other's missteps and provide data to monitor their progress. - More, NPR

100 Top Colleges Vow To Enroll More Low-Income Students

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