A paper published by the New America Foundation found that colleges are not awarding financial aid to the neediest students, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. Instead, institutions tend to give merit scholarships, which do not take into account family income. Schools choose to use their financial aid funds strategically and recruit the wealthiest students. The study also revealed that merit aid recipients are not necessarily better students. Roughly 27 percent of freshmen with SAT scores between 700 and 999 receive merit aid, compared to the 19 percent with scores under 700. Lower income families are now experiencing a growing gap between what colleges charge and what families can afford. While some private universities are making efforts to provide low-income students with greater financial aid, the situation for low income students at many schools is worsening.
Data from the Pew Hispanic Center indicates that a record number of Hispanic students are attending college, USA Today reported. The percentage of Hispanic students headed to two or four-year institutions has risen to 69 percent, surpassing white students, who attend at a rate of 67 percent. Since 2008, the number of Hispanic students who attend college has increased, even as the college attendance rates of white and Asian students decreased. Furthermore, the data in the report indicates that more Hispanic students complete high school as compared to in 2000. Hispanic students, however, are half as likely to complete a four-year degree as white students. The data also found that 56 percent of Hispanic students enroll in a four-year institution, compared to the 72 percent of white students. Some attribute this increase in Hispanic college enrollment to the increased emphasis of education after the recession.
The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights will investigate a Title IX complaint filed against Occidental College, The Huffington Post reported Wednesday. The complaint, filed by 37 students, faculty and alumni in April, alleges that the college failed to properly discipline students found guilty of sexual misconduct, creating an unsafe environment for victims. The college previously hired two lawyers to help its administration rework its sexual assault policy. Education Department officials will also look into claims that Occidental administrators "retaliated" against students who had advocated for sexual assault procedure reform, The Huffington Post reported.
