The U.S. Supreme Court is now deliberating a case that will determine the future of affirmative action at America's colleges. In the Apr. 1 oral arguments and in numerous supporting briefs, advocates warned that if the justices strike down the University of Michigan's use of race as a factor in admissions, there will be far less racial diversity at the country's best-known colleges.
But even if the court upholds Michigan's approach, it will do little to alleviate an arguably greater problem: the growing economic segregation on America's campuses, regardless of race. Thanks in part to affirmative action, 12% of the freshman classes at the nation's top 146 colleges are African-American or Hispanic, according to a Century Foundation study released on Mar. 31. That's hardly a perfect reflection of U.S. society -- where these minorities represent 28% of all 18-year-olds -- but it's better than the situation before the start of affirmative action.
Consider, however, that only 3% of students at these top schools came from families in the bottom socioeconomic quartile and just 10% are from families in the bottom half. Meanwhile, a substantial 74% of the students hail from families in the top quartile -- defined by family income, parental education, and other factors such as neighborhood affluence. The discrepancies stem from soaring tuitions and lagging financial aid, a one-two punch that effectively has priced many low-income students out of the market for a sheepskin.
Moreover, while the University of Michigan case centers on admission to the most competitive colleges, the issue of economic segregation affects a far broader universe. Not only are students from low-income families largely shut out of the elite colleges, but they are also much less likely to attend college at all, compared with their counterparts from wealthier families (table). By the time they turn 26, just 7% of students who grow up in the lowest-income families have earned a BA, vs. 59% of students who come from the most affluent families, according to the Education Trust, a nonprofit group in Washington.
These economic disparities have grave implications for American society. They suggest that the problems of racial polarization will persist even with continued affirmative action, since black and Hispanic children are far more likely than whites to grow up in poverty. Moreover, because a college degree is increasingly a passport to the middle class, "this is hardly a route for greater economic mobility," says Kati Haycock, director of the Education Trust. Instead, warns Tom Mortenson, senior scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, "the trajectory we're on suggests we will become a poorer, more unequal, and less homogeneous country."
To be sure, low-income students are less likely to be well-prepared for college than kids who grow up in wealthier homes. As a group, they attend some of America's worst public schools and tend to live in families where neither parent has been to college. But even the smartest don't outmatch those with money. Only 78% of students from low-income families who rank as top achievers attend college -- about the same as the 77% of rich kids who rank at the bottom academically. The reason is all too clear: Financial aid programs have failed to keep pace with the skyrocketing cost of attending college.
Just look at the Pell Grant, which is the bedrock federal aid program for low-income college students. A generation ago, it covered 84% of the cost of attending a four-year public university. At that level, it put a four-year degree within reach of even the poorest students. Today, the Pell covers just 42%, leaving many low-income families unable to put their children through.
As grants have declined, students who lack sufficient resources have been forced to take on monstrous debt loads. The total volume of student loans hit $48 billion last year, up 146% in the past decade, even after inflation. But even counting these loans, the average poor student still falls $3,800 short of covering expenses at a four-year, in-state school, figures Anthony P. Carnevale, vice-president at Educational Testing Service. To help cover the difference, the number of college students working full-time has more than doubled, even though the demands of a full-time job sharply cut the odds that they will ever graduate.
Not surprisingly, many low-income students are also opting for the cheapest form of higher education, namely community college. But few students who begin at a community college ever go on to earn a BA.
One solution to this problem would be to modify affirmative action programs to give preference to good students from low-income families. The Century Foundation study found that this approach would bring vastly more economic diversity than admission policies that single out race alone. In fact, 38% of the students at the top colleges would then come from the poorest half of the population, vs. just 10% currently.
But truly meeting the needs of low-income students would require fundamental reforms in financial aid. Essentially, it would mean a return to the origins of the program, which was established in 1972 to provide students with an equal opportunity to attend college, regardless of their ability to pay. With the federal and state budgets facing huge deficits, finding the money seems to be a nearly impossible task right now. But the alternative -- a class-bound society that runs counter to some of the most basic American values -- may prove even costlier in the long run.
By William C. Symonds
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