Higher Education Barriers
Income, Costs, and the Current Financial Aid System
In this report, we provide the background and diagnosis of the existing barriers to higher education in America today. We find that while an individual’s merit is part of the story of access to higher education today, it is by no means the whole story. Some of our key findings are: Family income is a major determinant of college enrollment and especially of college completion. While 78 percent of high school graduates from high-income families enrolled in college, the shares for middle- and low-income families were 63 percent and 55 percent. Middle-income children are about half as likely to complete…
