Low-income student growth has impact on college participation
The U.S. has traditionally enrolled far fewer students in college from low-income families than students from higher-income families. In 2006-07, 24 percent of low-income students participated in college compared to 45 percent of students from higher-income families. Minnesota follows a similar pattern, with 29 percent of students from low-income families going on to college compared to 65 percent overall. This pattern is troubling. Without more students from all income levels continuing into college, our nation will lose the brain power needed to innovate and fuel our economy.
While the number of higher-income high school students who are most likely to attend college is decreasing, the number and share of low-income students is growing. One measure of this is the increase in students eligible for free or reduced lunch. A student qualifies based on household size and federal poverty guidelines. Generally, for a household of four, a student qualifies for reduced lunch when yearly family earnings are $38,230 or less; a student qualifies for free lunch if earnings are below $26,845. In the past decade Minnesota students receiving free or reduced lunch have grown from 26 percent to 32 percent.
Now look ahead, given the poverty levels in the younger grades. This past school year saw 37 percent of first graders — the graduating class of 2019 — receiving free or reduced lunch. That’s a good indicator that the share of high school graduates in poverty will continue to grow. In other words, over 20 years the share of low-income students will likely grow by more than 20 percent (1997-98 to 2018-19).
While the low-income population has been growing, Minnesota has seen a dip in the likelihood that these students will go to college. Our college participation rate for low-income high school graduates has been declining — from 48 percent in 1993 to 29 percent today. If low-income student participation rates remain low while the percent of students coming from low-income families continues to increase, Minnesota will feel the impact.
“If we don’t take steps early on to get children out of poverty, they might not make it across the high school finish line,” said Marc Kimball of the Children’s Defense Fund Minnesota. “Investing in kids and their education will help them and our state succeed.”
For more on this topic, read Enrolling lower-income college students: why it matters.