I just spent a couple of weeks working with the American Talent Initiative (ATI), which is an effort coördinated by the Aspen Institute and Ithaka S+R and supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The ATI’s goal is to help the best colleges and universities in the country to enroll and graduate 50,000 more low- and middle-income students.
This is important because a significant majority of high-achieving, low-income students do not apply to selective colleges, even though, after aid, these institutions may be a more affordable alternative than the two-year, or less-selective four-year institutions in which they enroll.[1] Far too often, the schools they select do not challenge them.
A longitudinal study using data from the National Center for Education Statistics has shown that when students select institutions that don’t adequately challenge them intellectually, they are less likely to graduate, and degree completion for these “undermatching” students is progressively lower for students of increased ability.[2]
Degree completion is especially critical for low-income students. If they attend college, take on debt, and do not complete a degree, they are more disadvantaged than they would have been had they not enrolled at all.
This is where opportunity and mission align. Collectively, we have the opportunity to enroll and graduate more high-achieving students from low-income families, enriching the economic and experiential diversity of our student bodies while welcoming more talented and meritorious students to our campuses. Economic access was a core of our founding mission.
The ATI has 139 member schools. These include 41 public and 98 independent institutions. Of the independents, 54 are residential liberal arts colleges. The purpose of my residency was to explore how the most successful member institutions might help the entire cohort to support more deserving students of modest means. Of the 54 liberal-arts-college members, Susquehanna has the 9th smallest endowment, but is tied for 8th in the highest percentage of Pell-eligible graduates.
As a member of the American Talent Initiative (ATI), we have joined a group that is striving to become a community of best practice formed from the leading colleges and universities in the nation. These member institutions have demonstrated excellence in academic achievement and high graduation rates.
Collectively, ATI members have pledged to expand access to more high-performing, low-income students to elevate their talents and to eliminate undermatching for our most promising students, and Susquehanna can serve as a model to our sister institutions for how to make a big impact with humble resources.
50,000 students is an audacious, but attainable goal. The capacities of our member institutions are varied. Working together, we have the ability to achieve a profound, positive transformation of our national educational landscape by creating access for so many more deserving, gifted, and historically underserved students.
At a time when many institutions are coming under fire as elitist, this initiative provides a powerful counternarrative that is mission-driven, connected to our history, and of immeasurable benefit to all our students.
[1] Hoxby, Caroline and Christopher Avery: The Missing One-Offs”: The Hidden Supply of High-Achieving, Low-Income Students. Brookings: 2013.
[2] Kang, Chungseo and Darlene Garcia Torres: “College Undermatching, Bachelor’s Degree Attainment, and Minority Students,” Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 14(2), 264-277 (2021).