Over the past 30 years, college-going has increased for all groups of students – that’s good news. The bad news is that there are still huge gaps in the rates of college attendance between groups of students. Students who would be first in their family to attend college, low-income students and students of color enroll in college at far lower rates than their peers. Even the highest-achieving, low-income students enroll in four-year colleges at about half the rate of high-achieving high-income students.
So what are the barriers to college enrollment for low-income and other underrepresented students and how can Breakthrough programs help students overcome these barriers? This month’s research brief – Barriers to College for High Achieving Students – describes the research and best practices that Breakthrough programs should consider when designing and implementing high school support services that will best prepare their students to apply to and enroll in selective four-year colleges.
This is a great article. It is key to highlight that most students are EXTREMELY uninformed about college. Kane (1994) found that the Pell Grant did not increase African-American college attendance rates among those eligible for the program. No doubt a large part of this cant be attributed to the lack of knowledge of the program among lower income families.
Additionally, it was great talking to you on the phone yesterday. I look forward to doing research on the Breakthrough model and it’s impact on the students it mentors.