WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King praised colleges and universities that do an exceptional job when it comes to admitting and graduating students who rely on Pell Grants but also called on leaders of those institutions to do more to encourage others to follow suit.
The newly minted education chief also warned that the United States is becoming a “caste system of colleges and universities” in which more affluent students get personalized counseling, college prep courses and enjoy higher rates of admittance to elite universities, while poorer students too often “get shortchanged on these things.”
“When it comes to affordability, we need to recognize that when poor students borrow at least half their annual household income just to attend college, we are dangerously close to college obstructing, rather than driving, social mobility in this country,” King said.
He cited statistics that show students from America’s wealthiest families make up 72 percent of the student bodies at top colleges, whereas students from the poorest make up just three percent of enrollment at such schools.
King made his remarks Thursday at the Education Department’s headquarters during a forum titled “Championing Completion: Improving College Outcomes for Pell Students.”
The mostly private forum coincided with the department’s release of a new department report that singles out institutions of higher education that do an exceptionally good job at graduating Pell grant recipient students at an affordable cost.
While recognizing the many institutions that do “impressive and inspiring work” by increasing college access for low-income students, the report also claims that too many colleges and universities are “missing the mark.”
