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Singersdad:
That said, despite a virtual crusade by the likes of Questbridge and the Joyce Ivy foundation why does it seem like arm twisting is required to get kids to apply for scholarships that could change their lives.</p>
<p>Last thought, Something as simple as dual enrollment can really slash the out of pocket cost of a college education yet at least in my school district and many I am familiar with it is vastly underused. Any thoughts ?
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<p>Studies like <a href=“http://www.brookings.edu/research/interactives/2013/low-income-high-achieving-hoxby-avery ”>http://www.brookings.edu/research/interactives/2013/low-income-high-achieving-hoxby-avery</a> ; indicate that many high achieving students from low income backgrounds choose non-selective schools.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.brookings.edu/about/Projects/BPEA/latest-conference/2013-spring-selective-colleges-income-diversity-hoxby ”>http://www.brookings.edu/about/Projects/BPEA/latest-conference/2013-spring-selective-colleges-income-diversity-hoxby</a> ; has the following:</p>
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BPEA Co-editor Justin Wolfers discussing this paper by Hoxby and Avery:
The authors find that there are a variety of factors as to why these students do not think to apply to selective tertiary institutions or “reach” schools: they are isolated from other high-achievers, know few others who have attended these schools (be they teachers, college counselors or older students) and their school counselors are unaccustomed to advising students about selective colleges. On the other side, they find that these colleges spend a great deal of effort finding low-income students located near their campuses, which they term “searching under the lamp-post” – looking for low-income students near them as opposed to looking where the students are.</p>
<p>They also delve into high school teacher data and find that there is a very small share—5 percent or less—of low-income students’ teachers who attended either match or even safety colleges for their high-achieving students. They note that even high-income students’ do not encounter many teachers with degrees from selective colleges.
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<p>It would not be surprising if something similar caused low interest in dual enrollment or other rigorous college-prep course options in high school.</p>