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Student support

Income and race matter. Low-income students are far less likely to earn a baccalaureate degree than students from the highest socioeconomic level. Educational attainment gaps between whites and racial and ethnic minorities persist, which threatens this country's social and economic progress.

A study by the American Council on Education (ACE) found that 25 percent of middle- and upper-income first-year students had left college without a degree by 1998 compared to 40 percent of low-income freshmen. One-third of all white Americans have at least a bachelor’s degree by the time they are in their late 20s, but only 18 percent of African-Americans and 10 percent of Hispanics have earned degrees by that age.

Lack of financial aid is one barrier that prevents low-wage workers from completing community college programs. A 2003 National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) study concluded that students who received more financial aid in their first year at a four-year institution were less likely to leave within three years than those who received less aid.

Lumina Foundation is supporting efforts to help nontraditional students, including at-risk youth and low-income adult students, earn college credentials and get better and higher-paying jobs. Some of these efforts include:

• Opening Doors — This MDRC project tests new forms of financial aid and new approaches to counseling and class scheduling aimed at helping low-income students in community colleges in four states.
• Building Engagement and Attainment of Minority Students (BEAMS) — This initiative helps minority-serving institutions graduate more students of color. The BEAMS project serves 150 four-year colleges and universities — including Historically Black, Hispanic-serving and Tribal Colleges — from the Alliance for Equity in Higher Education. Each institution analyzes the scope and character of their students' engagement in their learning and implements well-designed action plans for improvement of engagement, learning, persistence, and success.
• The Posse Foundation — This organization prepares groups of inner-city kids to excel in academically challenging institutions and then sends them to these universities in posses. Members of the group support one another in their academic endeavors and social life. The Posse Foundation is expanding to other urban areas in addition to New York, Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles. More...
• Student African American Brotherhood — This networking and mentoring organization helps young black males persist and graduate from college. The group addresses the negative self-perceptions that many black men bring to campus and learns about tools, such as study and networking skills, that help students succeed.
• The Indiana Project for Improving Academic Success — At Indiana University, researchers are working to determine the best way to improve the effectiveness of student support programs to retain and graduate students — especially those from under-served groups. The Indiana Project for Improving Academic Success will enhance existing programs and create new ones.