Giving Compass' Take:

• In this story from The 74, Brendan Lowe highlights a recent study on the effectiveness of comprehensive universities at helping students from low-income families make it to the middle class.

• The vast majority of donations to higher education go to elite institutions. What does this information say about the effectiveness of those donations?

• To learn about a few effective approaches to equity for low-income college students, click here.

[C]omprehensive universities ... maintain a low profile while enrolling 70 percent of students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees at public universities.

While there is no formal definition, comprehensive universities are generally “public institutions that primarily enroll students who live near the school and educate their students chiefly for jobs in the local economy,” [Jorge Klor de Alva] wrote ... Clemson University, The College of New Jersey and Grambling State University are three of the better-known comprehensive universities.

Given comprehensive universities’ outsize influence in higher education, Klor de Alva looked to see why low-income students who graduate from certain schools are more likely to move into the middle and upper class than their peers at other comprehensive universities.

Here are five takeaways from his study, [Is the University Next Door the Way to Upward Mobility?]:

  1. The American Dream isn’t dead.
  2. Seemingly similar colleges get very different outcomes.
  3. Graduation rate rules, geography and race loom large.
  4. Funding and acceptance rates aren’t the end all, be all.
  5. Management matters.

Read the full article about comprehensive universities by Brendan Lowe at The 74