Studies show that rich kids are not only more likely to
pursue a bachelor's degree than poor kids, they're also far more likely
to land in the nation's most prestigious schools. Nationwide, nine in
10 high school graduates from families earning more than $80,000 a year
attend college by age 24, compared with just six in 10 from families
earning less than $33,000, says a report by the Century Foundation, a
progressive policy institute in Washington. At the nation's 146 most
selective colleges, only 3 percent of students come from the lowest
socioeconomic quarter, it says; 74 percent come from the top quarter.
And the gap has widened: Wealthy kids are increasingly displacing
middle-income students, according to a study of selective institutions
by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. The UCLA study
shows that first-generation college students -- often considered the
most disadvantaged -- increasingly are concentrated in the least
selective institutions. [more ]
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