Researcher calls for low-income preference in admissions

William Bowen, a prominent figure in higher education research,
recently advocated that selective universities should give
admissions preference to students of low-income backgrounds.

Bowen, a former president of Princeton University and the
current president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, gave a
lecture at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of
Education last week where he presented a research study that
contained data of students from 19 selective universities,
including UCLA.

This study followed students in the entering class of fall 1995
from the application process through graduation.

Martin Kurzweil, a research associate at the Mellon Foundation
who worked on the study with Bowen, said the study’s findings
indicated students who came from low-income backgrounds performed
as well in college as their incoming SAT scores and grades had
indicated. Conversely, minorities and recruited athletes were found
statistically to underperform to their academic potential.

Bowen said the importance of adding more students of low-income
backgrounds to college campuses was to un-tap hidden talent, to
diversify the college educational experience, and to promote
concern for equity.

“This proposition, central to a well-functioning
democratic society, is especially important at a time when
education is more critical than ever before in determining access
to not only the best jobs but also to a broad set of less tangible
opportunities that help us “˜live a life,'” he
said in his speech at UV.

Bowen is one of the leading voices regarding equity in higher
education, said Anne MacLachlan, senior researcher at
Berkeley’s Center for Studies in Higher Education. His
proposition has generally been positively received by higher
education researchers.

While Bowen is also a proponent of affirmative action, Kurzweil
said many opponents to affirmative action have shown support to
giving preference to students based upon socioeconomic status
instead of race.

Some students may feel they earned better grades and SAT scores
than a student of low-income background and thus deserve to be
admitted before students with less competitive academic
standing.

But Kurzweil said “the college admissions process has
never been about SAT scores alone, and by no means does it tell you
everything about an applicant.”

“College isn’t just about hitting the books.
It’s about developing good citizens and leaders and teaching
students about life,” he added.

“Given that democracy of opportunity is a piece of
rhetoric of American social life, even the most conservative of
Americans should see that this would be another means of doing
that,” MacLachlan said of the positive attitude of
affirmative action critics toward the consideration of
socioeconomic factors in admissions.

In 2003 the UC system implemented “comprehensive
review” in the admissions process to give an overall
assessment of applicants, evaluating personal achievement and life
challenges in addition to academic scores.

UCLA has been a leader of providing opportunities for low-income
students, according to the UC Office of the President.

In a study by the James Irvine Foundation on low-income students
in top- ranked schools, UCLA ranked first among both public or
private colleges in the number of low-income students enrolled,
said Hanan Eisenman, UC Office of Admissions spokesman.

Eisenman said the study showed 34.8 percent of UCLA
undergraduates come from lower income families. Following UCLA in
second and third places were UC Berkeley and UC San Diego,
respectively.

Eisenman said it is an important goal for the UC system to
provide access to education for low-income students and that they
have been very successful in doing so.

Still, Bowen said though public schools have been the most
accessible for low-income students, major increases in student fees
over the past five years are threatening educational access and
should be taken into serious consideration.