Many high-performing high school students from low-income backgrounds are not even applying to top universities, according to a paper authored by Caroline Hoxby, Bommer Professor in Economics at Stanford University, and IQSS affiliate Christopher Avery, Larsen Professor of Public Policy and Management at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. In a working paper titled "The Missing 'One-Offs': The Hidden Supply of High-Achieving, Low Income Students," Hoxby and Avery observe that despite the fact that low-income students graduate at higher rates in selective institutions, the vast majority of low-income students—who may be unaware of their academic options—instead apply to non-selective four-year and two-year colleges. Hoxby and Avery go on to discuss possible ways in which selective colleges might seek to increase application rates from low-income achievers.
The New York Times looks at their findings, possible factors, and potential consequences in its article, "Better Colleges Failing to Lure Talented Poor," as does Bloomberg News in "Most Poor Ignored by Best Colleges." The paper can be found here.
