Increasing college access and retention for lower income students is one my long standing, pet topics.

When I worked for a policy center in grad school, we did a study on why good students (a GPA of B- or better) dropped out of the CUNY colleges. We were hired by the CUNY administrators to do the study. They gave us a huge randomized list of these good dropout students. We tracked down as many as we could, and asked them why they left. Many said that they hadn’t really dropped out. They took time off. Others transferred. Many said they had a family or financial crisis. Others complained about advisors or the poor sequencing of classes.

For those who didn’t transfer to other schools, personal crisis and bad advisors were the biggest  issues.

The Upshot has a great article that lists some new programs aimed precisely at the students in my old study. There are efforts to create independent advisors for these students.

Leonhardt wonders what colleges will do if they start getting more students at their door who are prepared, but don’t have the income to pay for tuition. Will colleges start cutting corners to keep tuition affordable?