The glass is both half-full and half-empty when it comes to socioeconomic status in higher education, according to William G. Bowen, the 2004 Thomas Jefferson Foundation distinguished lecturer, who delivered the second part of his three-part series on equity and excellence in higher education yesterday in the Rotunda Dome Room.
Bowen discussed the history of economic class in higher education, revealed the most recent research he conducted as president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which gives grants on topics such as higher education, and urged universities and colleges to implement preferences to low-income students.
The research reached a striking conclusion: When controlled for academic preparedness, defined in this study as SAT test scores, economic class and first-generation college student status, had very little impact on admission, enrollment and graduation rates. Bowen labeled the study unprecedented because it examined applications, admissions, enrollment and graduation data for the entering class of 1995 across 19 highly-selective institutes of higher education, including the University.
"For those applicants who took the SAT, did well on it and applied to elite institutions, family income had surprisingly little effect," Bowen said. "Once they appear in applicant pools, these candidates are treated in the same way as everyone else."
According to Bowen, recruited athletes, underrepresented minorities and children of alumni hold a significant admissions advantage because of preferential policies.
Bottom income quartile and first-generation college students, however, only have minor advantages or disadvantages as compared to typical applicants. Additionally, neither group suffers from academic underperformance, which Bowen called a "serious" problem affecting recruited athletes and underrepresented minorities.
Bowen repeated, however, earlier data showing students in the top income quartile were six times more likely to both take the SAT and score over a 1,200 on it than students in the bottom income quartile.
"It is half-empty if we focus on the gaps of opportunity that exist," Bowen said.
University spokesperson Carol Wood said the Access UVa financial aid initiative was designed to attract a more economically diverse group of students to the University.
"By providing this financial support, we hope that students who might not have considered U.Va. because it was financially out of their reach will now realize that U.Va. is a school they could aspire to," Wood said.
A portion of the study simulating the effect of giving preferential treatment to low-income students concluded it would significantly increase their chances of admission, cause little to no effect on academic standards and require a 12 percent increase in financial aid budgets.
Finally, Bowen urged universities to uphold affirmative action policies because he said the simulation showed replacing minority preferences with low income preferences would cut minority enrollment in half.
Bowen took questions from the audience about topics ranging from early decision policies to the debate concerning SAT scores. Martin Kurzweil, a Mellon Foundation research staffer who worked with Bowen, said substituting other measures of academic preparedness for the SAT led to the same results.
Bowen earned a doctorate in economics from Princeton University, taught as a professor there, and served as its president for 16 years.
The lecture series was sponsored by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation and the Curry School of Education.
On Tuesday, Bowen discussed the history and present status of the main goals of higher education. Bowen will conclude the series next Tuesday with a lecture on race in American higher education.
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