5. Prioritize recruitment at Title I public high schools
Here’s what institutional leaders can do:
- Higher education institutions should establish, expand, and prioritize targeted outreach in communities with high proportions of students with lower incomes.
- Higher education institutions should host college fairs and prioritize recruiting at Title I public high schools.
Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provides supplemental federal funding to schools and districts with high concentrations of students with lower incomes, which may often lack the resources to meet the needs of the students they serve. Targeted recruitment at Title I schools is a valuable way for colleges and universities to get the word out to lower income students about their course offerings and to help overcome barriers to higher education related to lower college knowledge in higher poverty communities. Too often, colleges and universities limit their recruiting to disproportionately white and wealthy schools. In one study, for example, colleges and universities visited high schools where the average family income in the neighborhood exceeded $100,000, and they did not visit nearby high schools where the average family income was $60,000 to $70,000.[i]
[i]Jacquette, Ozan and Karina Salazar. “Colleges Recruit at Richer, Whiter High Schools.” The New York Times. April 13, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/13/opinion/college-recruitment-rich-white.html.