To Surmount Economic Inequality, Colleges Must Prepare Students for Enrollment

Socio-economic status has a strong correlation with whether or not a high school graduate enrolls in college within 18 months of graduating. Almost 90% of students whose family income places them in the top quintile of earnings decide to enroll in either a two or four-year college, while just over 50% of high school graduates coming from the lowest quintile of earnings go on to enroll in postsecondary education.

But new research shows that if high school graduates from any socio-economic quintile receive the same amount of college preparation, as defined by high school GPA, math and English grades, number of IB or AP courses taken, and standardized math test scores, the college enrollment gap between the top quintile and bottom quintile shrinks from almost 40 percentage points to just 20.

Dr. Sade Bonilla, an assistant professor of policy, organizations, leadership and systems division at the University of Pennsylvania.The findings are even more striking when disaggregated. When controlling for academic preparation, male and female students apply to college at statistically the same rate. Enrollment gaps are almost inverted when it comes to Black, Latinx, white and Asian students. While only 62% of the total number of Black students in the study enrolled at any institution after graduation, when controlling for students with equal academic preparation, that number jumps to 79%.

This study, conducted by the Center on Children and Families, part of the nonprofit policy research organization Brookings Institute that researches how U.S. policies impact the lives of families living in poverty or facing inequality, shows that gender and race gaps in college enrollment are directly connected with academic preparation in high school.

“These findings are consistent with research on earlier cohorts, [which] suggests that closing gaps in academic preparation is key to making progress on college enrollment gaps,” said report co-author Sarah Reber, the Joseph A. Pechman senior fellow in economic studies at Brookings.

Education experts spoke about the study, its findings, and what higher education can do to reduce college enrollment gaps created by socio-economic status at a webinar on Monday. They encouraged postsecondary institutions to increase supports for low-income students, and to build more opportunities for students to access and succeed in college-level courses earlier through methods like early college high schools or dual-credit opportunities.

Overall, they agreed that, although the academic preparation journey begins long before a student comes to campus, higher education must play a key role in addressing gaps in access.