By Mitchell McCluskey | CNN
Children from families in the top 1% financially are more than twice as likely to attend an elite university than those from middle-class families with comparable SAT and ACT scores, a new study found.
The research was conducted by Opportunity Insights, a group of Harvard researchers and policy analysts studying inequality.
The researchers looked at the eight Ivy League universities, in addition to Stanford, MIT, Duke and the University of Chicago.
The researchers set out to determine if the schools perpetuate privilege and how they could diversify the United States’ top earners by changing their admissions policies. To answer this question, they analyzed anonymous admissions data linked to income tax records and SAT and ACT test scores.
Students from families in the top 1% of the income distribution are 3.5x more likely to attend Stanford than students with comparable SAT or ACT scores from the middle class, the highest rate of any school aside from Dartmouth, which is 4.4x more likely.
Students from families in the top 1% of the income distribution are 1.1x more likely to apply to Stanford than students with comparable SAT or ACT scores from the middle class, the 7th highest out of 12 Ivy-Plus schools.
Students from families in the top 1% of the income distribution are 3.1x more likely to attend Stanford if they get in (this measure = “attendance-conditional-on-application” rate) than students with comparable SAT or ACT scores from the middle class, the highest out of the 12 Ivy-Plus schools.
The study used tax forms from 1999 to 2015 and test scores from 2001 to 2015.
Despite the significant advantage to be admitted into elite schools, the study found there was no similar admissions advantage at flagship public colleges.
“The stark difference in admissions gradients by parental income between selective public and private institutions suggests that highly selective private colleges may have the capacity to change the…
Read the full article here