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UCLA ranks first in economic diversity

By Samantha Masunaga

Sept. 29, 2009 11:14 p.m.

As a high school senior four years ago, Susan Li based her college choice on a factor other than aesthetics or social life: financial aid.

“I do come from a low-income family,” Li said. She currently serves as the external vice president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council. “My parents can’t help me (pay), even if they wanted to really help.”

Based on her family’s socioeconomic background, Li was able to receive both Cal and Pell Grants, which are state and federal student aid programs, respectively.

Without these sources of funding, Li said she would not be able to attend college.

“It would have been lots of money if I had taken out loans.” she said.

Li’s difficulties are similar to those of thousands of other students who rely on federal aid to pay their student fees.

In a report released Sept. 10 by U.S. News and World Report, UCLA was ranked first in the nation in terms of student economic diversity. The rankings were compiled based on the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants, according to the report.

While UCLA led the list with 35 percent of the student body receiving federal aid, UC Berkeley came in second with 32 percent, and Columbia University rounded out the top three with 17 percent.

Pell Grants were used as the basis of comparison, primarily because it is the only national standard for economic diversity because it shows the number of lower-income students, said Robert Morse, director of data research at U.S. News and World Report.

“This is the only thing to measure actual students,” he said.

He added that the rankings shed light on the affordability and accessibility of high-ranking national universities for lower-income students, although he had doubts about students’ decisions to apply for more expensive private institutions.

“Part of it gets at these concepts of access, but are students not trying to apply?”

Although the rankings were recently released, UCLA administration and staff say that the high amount of Pell Grant recipients is not new.

“UCLA has always been very accessible, especially to low-income students,” said Ronald Johnson, director of financial aid. “It’s a remarkable statistic for a public institution, catering to quite a diverse population.”

He added that funding from the University of California, in addition to Cal and Pell Grants, helps lower-income students attend UC schools. He contrasted this funding to that found at private universities, which he said did not accept as many low-income students, partially because these students could not afford to attend without funds.

“The private schools pursue the best and the brightest, but they may not have funding for it like the UC,” Johnson said.

However, in light of the state financial crisis, these is a level of uncertainty regarding the continued ability of the state to provide funding for the UC-specific financial aid that serves as an enticement for students.

“The state is still supportive of Cal Grants and the final decision to keep them and recognize the fee increases is great for the future,” said Tom Lifka, associate vice chancellor for student affairs. “But whether this will continue is difficult to answer.”

Like Johnson, Lifka said while private universities often have high endowments, they may give grant aid to a smaller percentage of admitted students, though UCLA has a higher overall admittance rate.

He added that in comparison, UCLA is also relatively affordable.

This contributes to a relatively open atmosphere regarding student aid at UCLA, Moore said.

“Students don’t wear ribbons to show Pell Grants or not. … But if people understand the data, they’ll see they’re not in a super-minority.”

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