Congratulations, class of 2011: You’re one of the most economically diverse classes at Northwestern. About 10.5 percent of you (or more than 200 students) come from “low-income” families – households earning less than $45,000 a year – nudging NU’s track record for recruiting low-income students upward by 5 percent.
This is a good thing, because economic diversity means a diversity of perspectives, which not only fosters better learning but also tolerance and friendship.
But before we try to glean as much “perspective” as we can from the one girl not wearing a Coach purse in our discussion section of 10, consider this: The U.S. Census Bureau came out with a report last month announcing the median household income was about $48,000 in 2006. If I’ve got my terminology right, a median income of $48,000 means that half of households in the U.S. earn more and half earn less.
That means only about a tenth of our students come from the bottom half of the economic pool, labeled “low-income” by NU. It becomes clear that economic diversity at many top schools is misleading. Our campus is more lopsided from an income standpoint than it is from even a racial one.
Admissions has been taking important steps to alter the balance. Last year, it purchased the names of high school students who scored well on the ACT and self-reported low income levels, said Michael Mills, NU’s associate provost for university enrollment. Then it contacted the students’ families and encouraged them to apply to NU, reassuring them they could receive financial aid – without loans. This year, NU will be one of 20 schools that will have access to similar information from the College Board, which administers the SAT. NU also targets high school visits to areas with low income levels.
Increasing economic diversity has become a top-five priority, Mills said. Compared with other top-tier schools like the Ivies, Stanford and Duke, NU’s low-income student enrollment is middle of the pack.
But middle of the pack is not good enough. If other schools are pursuing the same avenues – and they are – why should we spend all our resources courting the same high-achieving, low-income students who go to Harvard in the end?
NU should look into other sources untapped by selective colleges, such as community colleges. While partnerships between junior colleges and top state schools such as UNC-Chapel Hill and UCLA are fairly comMonday, they are rare at private institutions.
Community college enrollment has burgeoned recently. These colleges are an ideal recruiting ground because students are likely to come from less affluent families, and there’s no shortage of bright students pursuing two-year degrees.
