These CT Colleges Are Doing ‘The Most For The American Dream’: NYT

The University of California system dominates when it comes to colleges doing the most for economic diversity, according to a ranking of colleges released by the New York Times.

The Times’ third annual “College Access Index” looks at schools with a five-year graduation rate of at least 75 percent to determine which colleges are doing the most for lower-and middle-income students. The ranking is based on the number of such students a college enrolls and the price it charges them. The Times ranked a total of 171 colleges.

As the paper describes, the index is “a measure of which top institutions are doing the most to promote the American dream.”

In an accompanying op-ed column, titled “The Assault on Colleges — and the American Dream,” the Times writes that over the last several years, most states have cut spending on higher education and public universities have responded by enrolling fewer poor and middle-class students and replacing them with students who can afford the tuition.

Some of the colleges with declining economic diversity noted by the Times include the University of Florida, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, Binghamton University, Ohio State and Rutgers.

The Times notes that some of the biggest damage has been at community colleges and less selective-four year colleges, which enroll the greatest number of low-income students, yet many of these colleges are instead recruiting more upper-income students and students from out of state, as well as international students. In the University of California system, the story is a bit more nuanced, as colleges have been enrolling more high-income students while keeping the same number of lower-income students, however that has created overcrowding at these colleges.

Here’s how colleges in Connecticut rank when it comes to economic diversity:

• Yale University (20)
• Wesleyan University (22)
• Trinity College (51)
• Connecticut College (85)
• University of Connecticut (118)
• Fairfield University (130)
• Quinnipiac University (165)

See the full rankings here.

Click here to read the full op-ed column.

Report by Feroze Dhanoa, Patch Staff