Low-Income Let Down

Although low-income students have valuable perspectives to contribute to Harvard, a new study on federal Pell Grant awards suggests that diversity here rarely extends beyond the middle and upper classes. Research published in the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (JBHE) reports that low-income enrollment at Harvard ranks behind 18 of the 26 most prestigious universities nationwide. While on average 15 percent of students at these top schools receive federal financial aid in the form of Pell Grants, Harvard’s financial aid office approximates that just over 9 percent of undergraduates here are among them.

The study’s findings are consistent with other data on grants awarded to low-income students that suggests that fewer than 10 percent of Harvard families earn under $40,000 each year as compared to over 40 percent of families nationwide. Pell Grants are generally awarded only to families with a yearly income under $35,000.

Low-income students often face societal obstacles beyond Harvard’s control, and one would not expect representation at the College to reflect nationwide figures, even with ideal admissions and recruiting policies. At the same time, Harvard can do more to attract already-qualified low-income students who simply do not consider applying. Perception matters in efforts to recruit for all types of diversity, and low-income applicants must know they are welcome here and have a chance of being accepted. Their presence would enhance the educational experience for all students by widening the spectrum of ideas and opinions and supplementing them with knowledge of circumstances few of us here have experienced firsthand.

While the College’s need-blind admissions policy assures low-income candidates that financial need will not jeopardize their chances of acceptance, it is not necessarily enough to overcome their reservations about applying. High school guidance counselors and Harvard’s elitist reputation often discourage low-income students from applying because they may have weaker high school preparation or lower standardized test scores such as those on AP exams or the SATs, which are often correlated with family income. Students may well be standouts at Harvard despite those scores, and to its credit, the admissions office insists that it is sensitive to this fact. Instead of focusing on a need-blind selection process, the admissions office should emphasize that overcoming obstacles often found in low-income backgrounds can be an asset in the admissions process.

Attracting low-income students to top schools like Harvard is especially difficult because, as Director of the Undergraduate Minority Recruitment Program Roger Banks points out, “mythologies surrounding places like Harvard are very muscular.” But the fact that mythologies may be more imposing at Harvard than elsewhere does not explain why the JBHE reports that Harvard’s Pell Grant numbers have increased far less than other highly selective schools like Cornell, Yale and Duke.

Harvard should learn from these improvements as it rethinks its approach to low-income recruiting. Better outreach to students and guidance counselors at poorer schools is essential if those students are even to consider applying. Not only should Harvard send more undergraduates and admissions officers to meet face-to-face with students and staff in poorer schools, it should also allow them to see Harvard for themselves.

By sponsoring campus visits for groups of students and staff members from schools with large concentrations of low-income students, the University can work to create a more welcoming image of Harvard in those areas. Those who visit will take their new impressions of Harvard back to their schools and their local neighborhoods, which may help to dispel misconceptions. Through this type of outreach, admissions can cultivate relationships with schools currently beyond the reach of Harvard’s recruiting and, as a result, encourage more low-income students to apply.

Harvard must also take pains to enroll as many of its low-income admits as possible. Although subsidized campus visits are available to all admitted students on the basis of need, many simply do not know they are available. Better publicity may be a simple way to increase low-income yield and enrollment.

Significant long-term progress in socio-economic diversity depends upon its inclusion in Harvard’s recruiting and admissions priorities alongside crucial initiatives at racial, ethnic and geographic diversity. Improving low-income recruiting will only reinforce those efforts.