Overcoming the Barriers to College

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.

Academic Rigor + Practice = SAT Success

This week the College Board released SAT data for the class of 2009. The good news is that the student population taking the 2009 SAT is more diverse than ever before – 40% of SAT takers were students of color, 36% of SAT takers would be first-generation college students, and 25% of SAT takers reported that English wasn’t their first language (or not their only first language).

The bad news is that there are still large disparities between groups of students. For example, the average score on the math section for students whose families earn between $20,000-40,000 was 475, while the average score on the math section for students whose families earn more than $200,000 was 579 and the average score on the writing section for African-American students was 421, while for White students the average score on the writing section was 517.

Strong SAT performance appears to be correlated with at least three factors: completing a strong core curriculum in high school; taking the most academically rigorous courses available and practicing for the SAT by taking the PSAT/NMSQT.

Core Curriculum in High School
Students who completed a core curriculum that included 4 or more years of English, 3 or more years of math, 3 or more years of natural science, and 3 or more years of social science or history had the highest SAT scores. For example, students who took such a core curriculum scored 46 points higher on the critical reading section than students who did not.

Rigorous Classes
Students who took AP or honors classes had higher average SAT scores. For example, students who took AP or honors math classes scored 79 points higher on the math section compared to the average math score.

Practice, Practice, Practice
Students who were familiar with the test and had taken the PSAT/NMSQT had higher average SAT scores. For example, students who took the PSAT/NMSQT scored 45 points higher on the writing section than students who didn’t take the PSAT/NMSQT.

For more SAT data, see the College Board reports.