Preston Cooper at AEI gives us a valuable look at who is enrolling in college, and it may surprise you.
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus once observed that nothing is permanent, except change. Such classical wisdom is once again evident in a recent release of data from the National Center for Education Statistics on the college enrollment patterns of recent high school graduates. Since 1975, when recordkeeping began, a student’s chance of enrolling in college rose reliably with his family’s income. No longer. Low-income students now enroll in college at a higher rate than their middle-income peers.
Check this out:
Opportunity = success = fulfillment. Yet, this hopeful data point is tempered by this, according to the author.
As low-income students catch up to and even surpass their wealthier peers in college enrollment, it’s worth remembering that enrollment is only half the equation. For their education to be worthwhile, students must actually complete their college degrees—which only 57% do within six years. While the “college enrollment gap” between rich and poor has closed in recent years, whether it pays off remains to be seen.
Bottom line for me: we’re on the right track, which begins with opportunity.
