Giving Compass' Take:

• Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce released a report finding that low-income, working college students suffer the consequences of poor policies and insufficient employment opportunities. 

• The report provides potential solutions in the form of tailored approaches to acquire adult learners while accommodating to their needs. How can philanthropists work with universities to provide these tailored approaches?

• Read about programs that cater to high-achieving, low-income teens reaching for top schools. 

Failures in policy and inadequate options in higher education and the job market have created a "shameful state of affairs" for low-income working students that keeps them stuck in a cycle of low wages and limited opportunities, according to a new report from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce.

An expensive and inequitable education system and a labor market with insufficient high-quality job opportunities together contribute to these students working more than ever but struggling to get ahead, the report states. Tailored approaches are required to attract and accommodate adult learners, especially those with low incomes, who are too often treated as if they are, in one researcher's words, "invisible to higher education."

A report released this spring from the nonprofit Public Agenda recommends colleges give more attention to this group, and experts have spelled out strategies to effectively recruit and retain them. They include: gathering good data to understand their specific needs, recruiting them in new ways and via media suited to their tastes and lifestyles, and providing them accurate and clear information that is easy to access.

To retain them — a considerable challenge — colleges should provide services they might specifically need, such as child care and schedule flexibility, as well as financial support.

This disparity can be linked to the well-document K-12 achievement gap. According to recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics, 90% of 9th graders who were in the highest socioeconomic level moved on to college while only 56% of those in the lowest level did. Considering income disparities among (as well as within) individual schools, the difference in students matriculating on to college is a likely contributor to the number of low-income individuals attending as adults.

Read the full article about challenges for low-income students by James Paterson at Education Dive