College completion gap between rich and poor doubled over past 40 years

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The college completion gap between the country’s richest and poorest students has doubled over the past 40 years, according to a new report.

Just 9 percent of students from the lowest-income families – those making $34,160 a year or less – earn a bachelor’s degree. Whereas 99 percent of students entering college from the highest income families – those making $108,650 or more a year – do the same.

Compare that to the rates in 1970. The poor have barely seen an increase, but the rich have seen significant improvement in graduation rates.

Only 6 percent of students from the lowest-income families graduated, while 44 percent of students from the wealthiest families earned a degree.

Laura Perna, a University of Pennsylvania professor and executive director of the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy, one of the two organizations that published the study,  told the Associated Press that there are a number of factors contributing to the widening divide. These include “access to the information and support needed to enter college and graduate; college readiness; and the availability of higher education that meets people’s needs, particularly for students who might have children, limited access to transportation and full-time jobs.”

Perna also said that the numbers could also be skewed so dramatically because of the types of institutions poorer students are likely to attend.

Students from the poorest families are overrepresented in public two-year institutions, which tend to have lower completion rates, she said. Students from higher income families are more likely to be found at doctoral-granting institutions.