UNC-CH gets D in helping the poor

Study: State schools getting richer, whiter

Public flagship universities are becoming whiter and richer than the states they serve, according to a report card that gives UNC-Chapel Hill a D on minority and low-income student participation.

The report was issued Monday by the Education Trust, a national research group that studies classroom achievement of poor and minority students. It painted a picture of increasingly elite public universities across the United States, largely because of recruiting and financial aid policies that boost rankings and benefit affluent students.

Those policies decrease educational opportunity as poor and minority populations are increasing, said Kati Haycock, director of the Education Trust and co-author of the report.

Public flagship campuses were studied because of their longtime role in cultivating society's leaders in business, education, science and politics. There were no As, and only four universities scored a B in the report. Thirty-two received a D or an F.

"These institutions, as you all know, are powerful gatekeepers, but they are closing the gates on students who most need financial support to attend college," Haycock said in a conference call with reporters.

12 years examined

The report, "Engines of Inequality: Diminishing Equity in the Nation's Premier Public Universities," examined financial aid, graduation rates and enrollment over 12 years from 1992 to 2004. UNC-CH was the only North Carolina school in the study of 50 flagships.

UNC-CH, which has gained national attention for its Carolina Covenant grant program for poor students, got Fs on enrolling both minority and poor students. The university received a high mark -- a B -- for the success of minority students who are admitted. The report said UNC-CH was making progress on getting minority students in the door but losing ground on similar access for poor students.

University sees flaws

University officials were quick to point out what they said were flaws in the report.

Shirley Ort, UNC-CH's director of scholarships and student aid, called the analysis a gross oversimplification.

In 2004, according to the report, minority students were 16 percent of UNC-CH's freshman class. The report compares that figure with a state high school graduating class that year that was nearly 32 percent minority.

Similarly, 15 percent of UNC-CH freshmen qualified for Pell Grants, the federal need-based grant program, while 36 percent of the state's students were eligible for such grants.

"What's erroneous is that it expects a research university to be a mirror image of the demographic of the state," Ort said.

That may be reasonable to anticipate from a state university system that has schools of varying academic standards, but research campuses have tougher admissions criteria, she added. Given the achievement gap in the public schools, not all poor and minority students who applied would be admitted to UNC-CH, Ort said.

Haycock said public universities are too caught up in rankings, prestige and reputation. They raise their standards and compete for top students in the race to become more selective. Quality then becomes defined by who is kept out of the university, she said.

"I have to believe it's about the relentless march of privilege in this society," she said.

Covenant began in '04

At the same time, many public campuses have put their financial aid dollars into merit programs that tend to favor affluent students. But, UNC-CH has concentrated its money in the Carolina Covenant, which started in 2004 and now covers about 950 students. The university guarantees a free education to students from families earning below 200 percent of the poverty level. The students must work 10 to 12 hours a week as part of the deal.

The program has been widely praised and copied by about 20 other universities, including some on Monday's report card and N.C. State University.

Two months ago, UNC-CH hosted a national conference for university leaders on affordability and access for low-income students and urged them to undertake similar efforts.

Ort, the architect of the Carolina Covenant, said it was unfair for the Education Trust to censure campuses that have recently changed their policies to help more low-income students.

"It's like chastising a child for what it did five years ago," Ort said, "when the child has grown and matured."