Selective colleges put a lot of effort into recruiting in underserved areas. Read the Gatekeepers. Financial aid at many of the Ivies and Little Ivies is very generous. At Harvard 55% get aid, 20% pay nothing, the average family contribution is $12k, and 100% don’t have loans.
Schools like Harvard, Penn and Brown are sincere in efforts at achieving socioeconomic diversity but that is a decades long process and requires action at the lower levels of education as well.
The large donors certainly help make it possible for lower income students to attend.
I do think legacy and sports recruiting can take up spots but they have to qualify academically. I have no doubt that there will be reforms in this area too, but it’s complicated and the money that these things keep coming in, benefits financial aid students.
Campuses certainly have a different mix of students in the recent decade and the mix of students is very different from the 1960’s prep school pipeline.
Families with incomes over $150-180k but not high enough to comfortably pay, may suffer, so perhaps that is where this thread comes from.
@MADad That’s “back in the 80’s.” Everything has changed. Even in the past 10-15 years. That was then, this is now.
In 1980, Penn’s admit rate was 40%+. In 2007, Brown’s was 15%, Penn 20%, Harvard 10%. Compare that with today’s. These numbers are in many articles online.
Meaning that 45% of students come from families able and willing to pay $76k per year (probably income over $270k per year to get no financial aid at Harvard).
Also, for the “20% pay nothing”, presumably you mean 20% get maximum financial aid (minimum net price is $3.5k according to https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/net-price-calculator ). To get maximum financial aid, the net price calculator suggests that it can be done with income up to about $70k per year – about the median household income in the US.
Note that getting to $12k parent contribution at Harvard is about $135k per year income, or about the 78th percentile (top 22%).
Putting that together:
Top 5% (> $270k/year) households in the US => 45% of Harvard students
Bottom 50% (< $70k/year) households in the US => 20% of Harvard students
If we’re going to talk about stuff that got publicity 40 years ago… and assume that this is how ANYONE still operates- big companies, the British Royal Family, the Pope,… things change.