College completion is one of the surest pathways out of poverty, but not everyone that sets foot on campus graduates. Since 1980, gaps in rates of college entry, persistence, and completion between children from low- and high-income families have widened, although women are outpacing men in college attainment in every demographic group.
Read Falling Further Behind: Inequality in College Completion
“Falling Further Behind: Inequality in College Completion,” released in September 2017, was prepared by intern Jacob Roble. The sheet explores recent research into differential rates of college completion by socioeconomic status (SES), including variation in graduation rates between high- and low-SES students, the factors researchers think are behind them, and key aspects of promising efforts to help level the playing field and increase college completion among disadvantaged students.