Giving Compass' Take:

• Andre Perry, writing for The Hechinger Report, explores findings from a Pell Institute report, revealing that students in the highest socioeconomic quintiles were eight times more likely to attend a highly selective college than those from the lower economic quintile. 

• What are the possible underlying reasons for these patterns? How can colleges improve upon diversity efforts?

• Read about the racial disparities present in college faculty. 

For those who seek higher education, access to a college is no longer an insurmountable problem. With more than 5,000 colleges and universities dotted across the United States, and the availability of online and distance learning, more students can find their way into a college classroom than ever before.

Yet close inspection reveals that there is a big assumption in our everyday thinking about higher education that is riddled with faults: the idea that individuals choose the colleges they attend. Yes, individuals must fill out an application and enroll in an institution. But true choice can be out of reach.

A new report was released by the Pell Institute, an education think tank that conducts research on first-generation college students, and PennAhead, a University of Pennsylvania research group. It found that among the 2009 cohort of ninth graders — who graduated from high school as seniors in 2013 — students from the highest socioeconomic quintiles were eight times as likely to attend a “most” or “highly” selective college as those from the lower economic quintile (33 percent versus 4 percent).

While most students can get into some form of postsecondary institution, low-income students don’t have the same options as their wealthier peers. College admissions leaders talk about creating a diverse campus, but their decisions don’t back up their words. The numbers in this new report don’t lie. In the 2009 cohort, a shocking 73 percent of rich kids, those in the top economic quintile, got into four-year colleges as compared to a paltry 25 percent the poor kids in the bottom quintile.

If colleges are truly committed to diversity — of class as well as race — then they can use the power they possess to proactively pick lower-income students. That they are not amending their admissions policies tells you that it’s not their priority.

Read the full article about higher education diversity by Andre Perry at The Hechinger Report.