Washington Post Publishes True Merit Op-Ed

Posted February 1, 2016 | By

Representation of low-income students at selective colleges and universities has not changed in ten years despite selective institutions’ well-advertised, increased commitment to “need-blind admissions” and “no-loan financial aid” packages. The foundation’s recent True Merit report highlighted these findings, along with documenting the clear benefits of attending selective institutions, which provide higher graduation rates and higher pay for students and greater productivity for the nation.

Executive Director Harold Levy had the opportunity to outline these findings for The Washington Post, calling for an admissions preference for talented students with financial need:

“While some schools do make attempts to find high-performing low-income students, the overall impact is meager. To reduce the impact of the poverty penalty levied against the brightest low-income students, we need a serious poverty preference in admissions to elite colleges and universities — amounting to affirmative action for these students.”

Click to read the full article:
“We need poverty-based affirmative action at America’s colleges“