Lost in transition: The implications of social capital for higher education access

Notre Dame Law Review

Volumn 87, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 205-252

  Simmons, Omari Scott ^a  

^a WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY   (United States)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 84857980683     PISSN: 07453515     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (173)

1. Barack Obama, What I Want for You-and Every Child in America, PARADE MAG., Jan. 18, 2009, at 4, available at http://www.parade.com/news/2009/01/ barackobama-letter-to-my-daughters.html;
2. see also Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U. S. 306, 331-32 (2003) ("[D]iffusion of knowledge and opportunity... must be accessible to all individuals regardless of race or ethnicity.... Effective participation by members of all racial and ethnic groups in the civic life of our Nation is essential if the dream of one Nation, indivisible, is to be realized.");
3. see also George H. W. Bush, Remarks at a White House Ceremony Commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act (June 30, 1989), available at http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=17235#axzzlYiYoMzzJ ("It is time now to move forward on a broader front, to move forward into the century's final decade with a civil rights mission that fully embraces every deserving American, regardless of race-whether women, children, or the aged; whether the disabled, the unemployed, or the homeless.").
4. For purposes of this Article, "vulnerable students" is an umbrella term that refers to students who face one or more risk factors that may limit their chances of success. These risk factors include, but are not limited to: lower socioeconomic status, historical disenfranchisement, geographic isolation (e.g., rural and urban), minority status and ethnicity, and limited parental educational attainment. Vulnerability has both prospective and retroactive dimensions. See MCKINSEY & CO., THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP IN AMERICA'S SCHOOLS 12 (2009), available at http://www.mckinseyonsociety.com/downloads/reports/Education/ achievement-gap-report.pdf (finding that out of 170, 000 freshman attending "Tier 1" elite colleges, only nine percent represent the enure bottom half of the socioeconomic status spectrum). This discussion does not suggest that various higher education alternatives lack value, but only to recognize the disparity.
5. See NICHOLAS LEMANN, THE BIG TEST 6 (1999) ("A thick line runs through the country, with people who have been to college on one side of it and people who haven't on the other. This line gets brighter all the time.");
6. Definitions of social capital vary, but all agree that the concept describes what one accumulates based on the relationships that he or she has built with others. See, e.g., NAN LIN, SOCIAL CAPITAL 19 (2001) (defining social capital as "investment in social relations with expected returns in the marketplace");
7. ROBERT D. PUTNAM, BOWLING ALONE 296 (2000) ("A considerable body of research dating back at least fifty years has demonstrated that trust, networks, and norms of reciprocity within a child's family, school, peer group, and larger community have wide-ranging effects on the child's opportunities and choices and, hence, on his behavior and development.");
8. Alejandro Portes, Social Capital: Its Origins and Applications in Modem Sociology, 24 ANN. REV. SOC. 1, 2 (1998) (defining social capital as the positive consequences for the individual and the community created by involvement and participation in groups);
9. see also Pierre Bourdieu, The Forms of Capital, in HANDBOOK OF THEORY AND RESEARCH FOR THE SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION 241, 248-49 (J. E. Richardson ed., 1986) ("Social capital is the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition-or in other words, to membership in a group-which provides each of its members with the backing of the collectivity-owned capital, a 'credential' which entitles them to credit, in the various senses of the word." (endnote omitted));
10. James S. Coleman, Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital, 94 AM. J. SOC. S95, S98 (Supp. 1988) ("Social capital... is not a single entity but a variety of different entities, with two elements in common: they all consist of some aspect of social structures, and they facilitate certain actions of actors-whether persons or corporate actors-within the structure.");
11. L. J. Hanifan, The Rural School Community Center, 67 ANNALS AM. ACAD. POL. & SOC. SCI. 130, 130 (1916) (defining social capital as "goodwill, fellowship, mutual sympathy and social intercourse among a group of individuals and families who make up a social unit").
12. JEAN JOHNSON ET AL., PUB. AGENDA, CAN I GET A LITTLE ADVICE HERE? 3 (2010), available at http://www.publicagenda.org/files/pdf/can-i-get-a-little- advice-here.pdf.
13. See MCKINSEY & CO., DETAILED FINDINGS ON THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP IN AMERICA'S SCHOOLS 67 (2009), available at http://www.mckinseyonsociety.com/downloads/reports/Education/ detailed-achievement-gap-findings.pdf (finding that ethnic minorities are estimated to become the majority of U. S. school-age children by 2030, a benchmark that has already been reached in California and Texas). This demographic shift "enhances the relevance of the achievement gap. "
14. see also WILLIAM G. BOWEN ET AL., CROSSING THE FINISH LINE 9 (2009) ("It will not do to concentrate efforts on improving outcomes of college-bound upperclass white students, who already have a much higher rate of educational attainment than do other students-if for no other reason than that there are not going to be enough of them.").
15. See e.g., ALLIANCE FOR EXCELLENT EDUC., MEANINGFUL MEASUREMENT 1-8 (L. M. Pinkus ed., 2009), available at http://www.all4ed.org/files/ MeaningfulMeasurement.pdf (recommending reforms targeting college and career readiness);
16. U. S. DEP'T OF EDUC., A BLUEPRINT FOR REFORM 7-12 (2010) (discussing the need for student college and career readiness as reflected in curriculum alignment and test performance).
17. Arne Duncan, U. S. Sec'y of Educ., Crossing the Next Bridge: Remarks on the 45th Anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, Alabama (Mar. 8, 2010), available at http://www2.ed.gov/news/speeches/ 2010/03/03082010.html;
18. see also KATI HAYCOCK, EDUC. TRUST, PROMISE ABANDONED 5 (2006) (finding that only nine percent of students from the bottom socioeconomic status (SES) quartile acquire a bachelor's degree before age twenty-four, compared to seventy-five percent of students in the top SES quartile);
19. Alex Richards, Census Data Show Rise in College Degrees, but Also in Racial Gaps in Education, CHRON. HIGHER EDUC., Jan. 23, 2011, available at http://chronicle.com/article/Census-Data-Reveal-Rise-in/126026/(examining 2009 U. S. Census Bureau data and concluding that "28 percent of Americans 25 and older had at least [a] four-year degree" while "the rate for black Americans was just 17 percent, and for Hispanic Americans only 13 percent").
20. See Anthony P. Carnevale & Stephen J. Rose, Socioeconomic Status, Race/Ethnicity, and Selective College Admissions, in AMERICA'S UNTAPPED RESOURCE 101, 106 (Richard D. Kahlenberg ed., 2004) (finding that only three percent of students at selective colleges and universities come from the bottom socioeconomic quartile, compared to seventy-four percent from the richest quartile);
21. Karin Fischer, Top Colleges Admit Fewer Low-Income Students, CHRON. HICHER EDUC, May 2, 2008, at A1 (finding that "the proportion of financially needy undergraduates" actually dropped between 2004-2005 and 2006-2007 at the best-endowed public flagship and private campuses in the nation).
22. A recent study by the Education Trust found that sixty percent of white students who enter college earn a bachelor's degree within six years compared to only forty-nine percent of Latino students and forty percent of black students. Press Release, Educ. Trust., Reports Reveal Colleges with the Biggest, Smallest Gaps in Minority Graduation Rates in the U. S.. (Aug. 9, 2010), available at http://www.edtrust.org/dc/press-room/press-release/reports-reveal-colleges-with- the-biggest-smallestgaps-in-minority-gradu.
23. Mary Beth Marklein, Coaching Can Help Qualified Students Aim Higher, USA TODAY, June 30, 2010, available at http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010- 06-30-betteradvising30-CV-N.htm;
24. Jacques Steinberg, Graduates Fault Advice of Guidance Counselors, N. Y. TIMES, Mar. 3, 2010, at A20.
25. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107-110, 115 Stat. 1425 (2002)
26. (codified as amended in scattered sections of 20 U. S. C.).
27. Pathways to College Act, S. 3326, 110th Cong. (2008).
28. Coaching Our Adolescents for College Heights Act, S. 3027, 110th Cong. (2008).
29. MELISSA RODERICK ET AL., UNIV. CHI. CONSORTIUM ON CHI. SCH. RESEARCH, FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO THE FUTURE: MAKING HARD WORK PAY OFF 31 (2009), available at http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/publications/Making%20Hard%20Work%20Pay%20Off.pdf.
30. See Christopher Avery & Thomas J. Kane, Student Perceptions of College Opportunities: The Boston COACH Program, in COLLEGE CHOICES 355, 356 (Caroline M. Hoxby ed., 2004).
31. See Stephen Burd, Bridging the Gap, CHRON. HIGHER EDUC., Aug. 9, 2002, available at http://chronicle.com/article/Bridging-the-Gap/25524/.
32. MELISSA RODERICK ET AL., UNIV. CHI. CONSORTIUM ON CHI. SCH. RESEARCH, FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO THE FUTURE: POTHOLES ON THE ROAD TO COLLEGE 5 (2008).
33. See WILLIAM G. BOWEN & DEREK BOK, THE SHAPE OF THE RIVER 128 (1998) (reviewing longitudinal studies that found that the economic payoff of attending a selective institution is significant, even after attempting to control for student ability);
34. See Sigal Alon & Marta Tienda, Assessing the "Mismatch" Hypothesis: Differences in College Graduation Rates by Institutional Selectivity, 78 SOC. EDUC. 294, 305 (2005). Research indicates that college match has a particularly significant effect on minority, low-income, and first generation college students.
35. Dominic J. Brewer et al., Does It Pay to Attend an Elite Private College? Cross-Cohort Evidence on the Effects of College Type on Earnings, 34 J. HUM. RESOURCES 104, 114 (1999) (finding that graduates of elite private colleges earned almost forty percent more per year than graduates of less selecdve public colleges);
36. Eric Eide et al., Does It Pay to Attend an Elite Private College? Evidence on the Effects of Undergraduate College Quality on Graduate School Attendance, 17 ECON. EDUC. REV. 371, 371-72 (1998) (finding that attending an elite college significantly increases the probability of pursuing graduate study at a prestigious research institution).
37. see also Stacy Berg Dale & Alan B. Krueger, Estimating the Payoff to Attending a More Selective College: An Application of Selection on Observables and Unobservables, 117 Q. J. ECON. 1491, 1524-25 (2002) (suggesting that increasing the amount of vulnerable students at selective institutions "may raise national income, as these students appear to benefit most from attending a more elite college").
38. See DIANE RAVITCH, EDSPEAK 14 (2007). The International Baccalaureate program is described as "[a] rigorous international program of study that originated in Switzerland and has spread to more than 100 nations."
39. (citing Amanda Pallais & Sarah Turner, Opportunities for Low-Income Students at Top Colleges and Universities: Policy Initiatives and the Distribution of Students, 59 NAT'L TAX J. 357 (2006)).
40. See Anthony P. Carnevale and Jeff Strohl, Our Economically Polarized College System: Separate and Unequal, CHRON. HIGHER EDUC., Sept. 25, 2011, available at http://chronicle.com/article/Our-Economically-Polarized/129094/.
41. See generally Jenny Nagaoka et. al., Ctr. for Am. Progress, Barriers to College Attainment 4 (2009), available at http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/ highschools/pdfs/ChicagoSchools.pdf (discussing ways human and social capital have affected efforts to bridge the gap between students' goals and results);
42. See, e.g., WILLIAM C. SYMONDS, ROBERT B. SCHWARTZ, & RONALD FERGUSON, HARVARD GRAD. SCH. OF EDUC., PATHWAYS TO PROSPERITY: MEETING THE CHALLENGE OF PREPARING YOUNG AMERICANS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY (2011), available at http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news-events/features/2011/Pathways-to-Prosperity- Feb2011.pdf (promoting high quality vocational training as an alternative higher education pathway, in addition to four-year colleges).
43. See NAT'L CTR. FOR PUB. POLICY & HIGHER EDUC., MEASURING UP 2008, 5-6 (2008). Yet, the United States' historical edge has been steadily declining.
44. See STAFF OF S. COMM. ON HEALTH, EDUC., LABOR & PENSIONS, 111TH CONG., EMERGING RISK? 11 (2010) (finding that the combination of poor student outcomes and high loan default rates of for-profit institution graduates "calls into question the taxpayers return on their multi-billion-dollar investment, and leaves many unanswered questions with regard to whether a sufficient number of students receive an education that provides them with the knowledge and skills they need to obtain jobs to repay their student debt");
45. Elizabeth Monk-Turner, The Occupational Achievements of Community and Four-Year College Entrants, 55 AM. SOC. REV. 719, 724 (1990) (finding that students who first attend community college generally reach a lower occupational status than those who first attend a four-year college).
46. See MAMIE LYNCH ET AL., EDUC. TRUST, SUBPRIME OPPORTUNITY 2-3 (2010), available at http://www.edtrust.org/sites/edtrust.org/files/publications/files/ Subprime-report-1.pdf ("The rapid rise of the for-profit industry has largely been driven by the aggressive recruitment of low-income students and students of color.... [who] make up 50 and 37 percent of students at for-profits, respectively." (endnote omitted)).
47. see also Melanie Hirsch, Recent Development, What's in a Name? The Definition of an Institution of Higher Education and Its Effect on For-Profit Postsecondary Schools, 9 N. Y. U. J. LEGIS. & PUB. POL'Y 817, 821-22 (2006) ("[S]eventy-four percent of institutional fraud cases over the past six years have involved proprietary schools. Critics... cite a litany of abuses, including 'admitting unqualified students, inflating graduation and job-placement rates, lying about accreditation, [and] paying bonuses to employees for signing up new pupils.'" (last alternation in original)
48. (quoting Samuel G. Freedman, Tucked in Katrina Relief, a Boon for Online Colleges, N. Y. TIMES, Oct. 12, 2005, at B8)). One arguably exploitative strategy involves intensely recruiting the homeless, who "are desirable because they qualify for federal grants and loans, which are largely responsible for the prosperity of for-profit colleges," but may have increased difficulty managing educational debt because they "are more likely to suffer from mental illness and substance abuse than the general population. "
49. Daniel Golden, The Homeless at College, BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK (Apr. 30, 2010, 11:00 AM), http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10-19/ b4177064219731.htm.
50. See Bill Pepicello, Letter to the Editor, For-Profit University, N. Y. TIMES, Feb. 18, 2007, at C11.
51. See Sam Dillon, Troubles Grow for a University Built on Profits, N. Y. TIMES, Feb. 11, 2007, at A1;
52. Claudio Sanchez, Morning Edition: For-Profit Colleges Fight Limits on Student Loans (NPR radio broadcast June 9, 2010) (transcript and audio recording available at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127586513).
53. See Program Integrity: Gainful Employment, 75 Fed. Reg. 43, 616 (proposed July 26, 2010)
54. (to be codified at 34 C. F. R. pt. 668) (proposing regulations that would restrict the flow of taxpayer money to for-profit colleges);
55. Michael L. Lomax, Comment to For-Profits and New Regulations, NAT'L J. ONLINE (June 21, 2010, 7:35 AM), http://education. nationaljournal.com/2010/06/ forprofits-and-new-regulations.php#1595663;
56. Michael Barbaro, New York Attorney General Is Investigating Trump's For-Profit School, N. Y. TIMES, May 20, 2011, at A 18 (noting that the New York Attorney General has opened investigadons into at least five for-profit educadon companies in that state);
57. Tom Loftus, State Sues For-Profit College, LOUISVILLE COURIER-JOURNAL, Sept. 28, 2011, at A1 (reporting that the Kentucky Attorney General has brought his third suit in three months against for-profit colleges);
58. Press Release, The Office of Attorney General Lori Swanson, Attorney General Lori Swanson Brings Lawsuit to Recover Taxpayer-Financed Student Financial Aid Paid to Two For-Profit Colleges in Minnesota (Sept. 22, 2011), available at http://www.ag.state.mn. us/Consumer/PressRelease/110922StudFinAid. asp (describing recent lidgadon brought by the Attorney Generals of Minnesota, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, and California, against EMC, the second largest for-profit college company in the nadon).
59. See Program Integrity: Gainful Employment-Debt Measures, 76 Fed. Reg. 113, 34386, 113, 34386 (June 13, 2011)
60. (to be codified at 34 C. F. R. pt. 668).
61. See OFFICE OF MGMT. & BUDGET, EXEC. OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, BUDGET OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, FISCAL YEAR 2012, at 71 (2011) (proposing a $264 million budget cut to "Career and Technical Educadon and Tech Prep");
62. Sara Hebel, Unequal Impact, CHRON. HIGHER EDUC., May 30, 2003, at A21 (discussing why community colleges feel the brunt of budget cuts to higher education). This practice may also crowd out vulnerable in-state students at selective universities during economic recessions and periods of budget shortfalls.
63. See, e.g., Kelly Field, House Republicans' Spending Bill for Remainder of 2011 Would Cut Pell Grant by 15 Percent, CHRON. HIGHER EDUC., Feb. 13, 2011, available at http://chronicle.com/article/House-Republicans-Spending/126356/ ("Republicans in the U. S. House of Representatives have unveiled a spending bill for the remainder of the 2011 fiscal year that would... trim the maximum Pell Grant by 15 percent... [reducing the amount of assistance given] to the neediest students... and make 1.7 million students ineligible for Pell grants [at all].... If enacted, the reductions would be the largest cut in student-aid funds in the history of the Pell Grant program.").
64. JOHN DEWEY, EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION 34 (Simon & Schuster 1997) (1938).
65. But the influence of social capital is not a recent phenomenon; it has a unique place in American history. Alexis de Tocqueville acknowledged the existence of social capital long before it emerged in the social science literature: Americans of all ages, all conditions, and all minds are constandy joining together in groups. In addition to commercial and industrial associations in which everyone takes part, there are associations of a thousand other kinds: some religious, some moral, some grave, some trivial, some quite general and others quite particular, some huge and others tiny.... Nothing, in my view, is more worthy of our attention than America's intellectual and moral associations. ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA 595, 599 (Arthur Goldhammer trans., Library of America 2004) (1835);
66. see also MARTHA MINOW, IN BROWN'S WAKE 159-62 (2010) (discussing the role of social capital and networking in building a sense of commonality among groups).
67. Loïc J. D. Wacquant & William Julius Wilson, The Cost of Racial and Class Exclusion in the Inner City, 501 ANNALS AM. ACAD. POL. SOC. SCI. 8, 22-23 (1989) ("[N]ot only do residents of extreme-poverty areas have fewer social ties but also... they tend to have ties of lesser social worth, as measured by the social position of their partners, parents, siblings, and best friends.").
68. See Rachel E. Durham & P. Johnelle Smith, Nonmetropolitan Status and Kindergarteners' Early Literacy Skills: Is There a Rural Disadvantage?, 71 RURAL SOC. 625, 633 (2006) (listing factors that encumber academic attainment in rural populations).
69. See DOUGLAS S. MASSEY ET AL., THE SOURCE OF THE RIVER 5 (2003) (describing capital deficiency as the theory that poor academic performance is caused by "lack [of] resources needed for academic success").
70. Paul DiMaggio & Francie Ostrower, Participation in the Arts by Black and White Americans, 68 SOC. FORCES 753, 761, 772-73 (1990).
71. But these cultural claims can be controversial and should be approached with caution because of the difficulty discerning where cultures begin and end, the process of cultural syncretism, and the danger of stereotypical categorization. See generally William Darity, Jr., Intergroup Disparity: Why Culture Is Irrelevant, 29 REV. BLACK POL. ECON. 77 (2002) (arguing against cultural determinism-the notion that some groups produce economic success at greater rates than others because of beneficial cultural attributes).
72. Glenn C. Loury, A Dynamic Theory of Racial Income Differences, in WOMEN, MINORITIES, AND EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION 153, 176 (Phyllis A. Wallace & Annette M. La Mond eds., 1977). Due to differences in social capital, "absolute equality of opportunity... is an ideal that cannot be achieved."
73. See Sandra L. Hanson, Lost Talent: Unrealized Educational Aspirations and Expectations Among U. S. Youths, 67 SOC. EDUC. 159, 159 (1994).
74. Stephen B. Plank & Will J. Jordan, Effects of Information, Guidance, and Actions on Postsecondary Destinations: A Study of Talent Loss, 38 AM. EDUC. RES. J. 947, 949 (2001).
75. See Laura W. Perna et al., The Role of College Counseling in Shaping College Opportunity: Variations Across High Schools, 31 REV. HICHER EDUC. 131, 134 (2008).
76. See ANDY FURLONG & FRED CARTMEL, HIGHER EDUCATION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE 1-2 (2009).
77. See Laura W. Perna, Studying College Access and Choice: A Proposed Conceptual Model, in HIGHER EDUCATION 99, 113 (John L. Smart ed., 2006) (finding that these constraints shape how each individual "subconsciously define [s] what is a 'reasonable' [higher education] action").
78. See DIANE RAVITCH, THE DEATH AND LIFE OF THE GREAT AMERICAN SCHOOL SYSTEM 8, 15 (2010) (discussing the No Child Left Behind Act);
79. Kimberly Jenkins Robinson, The Case for a Collaborative Enforcement Model for a Federal Right to Education, 40 U. C. DAVIS L. REV. 1653 (2007) (same).
80. See generally James Forman, Jr., The Rise and Fall of School Vouchers: A Story of Religion, Race, and Politics, 54 UCLA L. REV. 547 (2007) (discussing school choice plans);
81. Goodwin Liu, Education, Equality, and National Citizenship, 116 YALE L. J. 330 (2006) (same);
82. Michael Heise, Adequacy Litigation in an Era of Accountability, in SCHOOL MONEY TRIALS 262 (Martin R. West & Paul E. Peterson eds., 2007) (discussing adequacy litigation);
83. Wendy Parker, Connecting the Dots: Grutter, School Desegregation, and Federalism, 45 WM. & MARY. L. REV. 1691 (2004) (discussing school integration);
84. Kimberly Jenkins Robinson, The Constitutional Future of Race-Neutral Efforts to Achieve Diversity and Avoid Racial Isolation in Elementary and Secondary Schools, 50 B. C. L. REV. 277 (2009) (same);
85. James E. Ryan, Brown, School Choice, and the Suburban Veto, 90 VA. L. REV. 1635 (2004) (discussing school choice plans);
86. James E. Ryan, The Limited Influence of Social Science Evidence in Modern Desegregation Cases, 81 N. C. L. REV. 1659 (2003) (discussing the convergence of school integration and adequacy litigation);
87. James E. Ryan, The Perverse Incentives of the No Child Left Behind Act, 79 N. Y. U. L. REV. 932 (2004) [hereinafter Ryan, Perverse Incentives] (discussing the No Child Left Behind Act);
88. James E. Ryan, Schools, Race, and Money, 109 YALE L. J. 249 (1999) (discussing school integration);
89. James E. Ryan, Standards, Testing and School Finance Litigation, 86 TEX. L. REV. 1223 (2008) (discussing adequacy litigation);
90. James E. Ryan & Michael Heise, The Political Economy of School Choice, 111 YALE L. J. 2043 (2002) (discussing school choice plans);
91. James E. Ryan, Comment, The Supreme Court and Voluntary Integration, 121 HARV. L. REV. 131 (2007) (discussing school integration).
92. See generally Danielle Holley & Delia Spencer, The Texas Ten Percent Plan, 34 HARV. C. R.-C. L. L. REV. 245 (1999) (discussing the Texas Ten Percent plan);
93. Mexican Am. Legal Def. & Educ. Fund, Blend It, Don't End It: Affirmative Action and the Texas Ten Percent Plan After Grutter and Gratz, 8 HARV. LATINO L. REV. 33 (2005) (same);
94. Michael A. Olivas, Constitutional Criteria: The Social Science and Common Law of Admissions Decisions in Higher Education, 68 U. COLO. L. REV. 1065 (1997) (discussing diversity admissions);
95. Michael A. Olivas, The Political Economy of the DREAM Act and the Legislative Process: A Case Study of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, 55 WAYNE L. REV. 1757 (2009) (discussing state legislative initiatives creating college financial aid programs that benefit undocumented immigrant students);
96. Lani Guinier, Comment, Admissions Rituals As Political Acts: Guardians at the Gates of Our Democratic Ideals, 117 HARV. L. REV. 113 (2003) (discussing diversity admissions);
97. Karin Fisher, Top Colleges Admit Fewer Low-Income Students, CHRON. HIGHER EDUC., May 2, 2008, at A1 (discussing progressive institutional financial aid programs). Regarding federal financial aid, Title IV of the Higher Education Opportunity Act supplies grants, loans, and workstudy programs based on financial need, academic merit or specialized field of study.
98. Higher Education Opportunity Act, Pub. L. No. 110-315, 122 Stat. 3078, 3188 (2008)
99. (codified as amended in scattered sections of 20 U. S. C.).
100. For examples of progressive college-sponsored financial aid programs see Financial Aid Office, HARVARD, http://www.fao.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do (last visited Sept. 23, 2011) (providing, inter alia, admitted students whose families earn less than $60, 000 receive a full, need-based scholarship);
101. Who Qualifies for Aid?, PRINCETON, http://www.princeton.edu/admission/ financialaid/how-it-works/who-qualifies/(last visited Sept. 23, 2011) (providing generous grants on a sliding scale where "[e]very student application is reviewed individually and many financial factors, not only income, are considered");
102. Financial Aid & Costs, WELLESLEY COLLEGE, http://web.weIlesley.edu/ web/Dept/SFS (last visited Sept. 23, 2011) ("meet[ing] 100 percent of each student's demonstrated need," with an average scholarship grant that is "one of the most generous in the country").
103. See Anthony P. Carnevale & Stephen J. Rose, Socioeconomic Status, Race/Ethnicity, and Selective College Admissions, in AMERICA'S UNTAPPED RESOURCE 101, 136 (Richard D. Kahlenberg ed., 2004) ("[A]s many as 300, 000 [students] with the apparent potential to achieve relatively high SAT-equivalent scores do not attend a four-year college.").
104. see also C. WRIGHT MILLS, THE POWER ELITE 62-70 (1956) (discussing the role of elite educational institutions as custodians and curators for the traditions of the wealthy, ensuring the smooth transfer of social and political power to the sons and daughters of the privileged);
105. MITCHELL L. STEVENS, CREATING A CLASS (2007) (arguing that elite colleges are a mechanism through which upper class parents transfer social positions to their children);
106. Goodwin Liu, Race, Class, Diversity, Complexity, 80 NOTRE DAME L. REV. 289, 301 (2004) ("Whether out of institutional habit or conscious policy, institutions like Harvard have little incentive-indeed, a disincentive-to admit a large number of poor or middle-class students.").
107. But see Richard H. Fallon, Jr., Affirmative Action Based on Economic Disadvantage, 43 UCLA L. REV. 1913, 1927 n. 47 (1996) (describing affirmative action based on economic disadvantage as a race-neutral method for ameliorating elite self-replication). (Pubitemid 126408705)
108. see also Charles R. Lawrence III, Two Views of the River: A Critique of the Liberal Defense of Affirmative Action, 101 COLUM. L. REV. 928, 950 (2001) (explaining liberal defense of affirmative action). (Pubitemid 33652114)
109. see also Eboni S. Nelson, Examining the Costs of Diversity, 63 U. MIAMI L. REV. 577, 602 (2009) ("[A]dherence to racial preferences in order to achieve diversity goals represents... a status quo that has relied upon racial integration and minority representation to fulfill the promise of Brown. While such reliance has indeed provided educational access for many minority students, it has not been tremendously successful in providing equal educational opportunities for the vast majority of minority students." (footnote omitted)).
110. See ROBERT J. STERNBERG, COLLEGE ADMISSIONS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY (2010). Perspectives vary on the Court's acknowledgment of the need for diversity.
111. with Goodwin Liu, Brown, Bollinger, and Beyond, 47 HOW. L. J. 705, 742-43 & n. 214 (2004) (noting "Grutter's keen awareness of the contemporary social context that gives education its importance," as exemplified in the Court's acknowledgment that "the skills needed in today's increasingly global marketplace can only be developed through exposure to widely diverse people, cultures, ideas, and viewpoints"
112. (quoting Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U. S. 306, 330 (2003))).
113. See Karin Fischer, Top Colleges Admit Fewer Low-Income Students, CHRON. HIGHER EDUC., May 2, 2008, at A1.
114. See Michael Hurwitz, The Impact of Legacy Status on Undergraduate Admissions at Elite Colleges and Universities, 30 ECON. EDUC. REV. 480, 484 (2011);
115. Richard D. Kahlenberg, 10 Myths About Legacy Preferences in College Admissions, CHRON. HIGHER EDUC., (Sept. 22, 2010), available at http://chronicle.com/article/10-Myths-About-Legacy/124561/. Additionally, a recent study found that legacy applicants have an admissions edge of over twenty percentage points at highly selective institutions.
116. The following reforms are not an exhaustive list. Other reforms such as the College Access and Completion Innovation Fund under the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), Pub. L. No. 111-152, §§ 2101-2213, 124 Stat. 1029, 1071-81 (2009) are omitted for brevity purposes.
117. See Pathways to College Act, S. 3326, 110th Cong. (2008). The bill has been introduced during the past two Congressional sessions, but has failed to make it out of committee.
118. see also NAT'L ASS'N FOR COLL. ADMISSION COUNSEUNG, TALKING POINTS: THE PATHWAYS TO COLLEGE ACT (2008), available at http://www.nacacnet.org/ LegislativeAction/Recommendations/Documents/Talking%20Points-Pathways.pdf (explaining the Pathways to College Act).
119. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111-5, §§ 14005 (d) (4) (A), 14006 (a) (1), 123 Stat. 115, 282-83.
120. LAWYERS COMM. FOR CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER LAW ET AL., FRAMEWORK FOR PROVIDING ALL STUDENTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN THROUGH REAUTHORIZATION OF THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT 4-5 (2010), available at http://www.odcampaign.org/ sites/default/files/resources/CivilRights%20framework-FINAL7-25-10.pdf (citation omitted);
121. see also Monica Teixeira de Sousa, A Race to the Bottom? President Obama's Incomplete and Conservative Strategy for Reforming Education in Struggling Schools or the Perils of Ignoring Poverty, 39 STETSON L. REV. 629, 672-73 (2010) (asserting that povertystricken schools cannot be "fixed" simply by "dangl[ing] financial incentives in front of states," and calling for "broader and more progressive vision for the federal government");
122. Marc Pilotin, Comment, Finding a Common Yardstick: Implementing a National Student Assessment and School Accountability Plan Through State-Federal Collaboration, 98 CALIF. L. REV. 545, 572-73 (2010) (noting that competitive grant programs are not structured in a way that encourages states to share ideas or compare results, therefore stalling the implementation of nation-wide reform);
123. Diane Ravitch, The Big Idea-It's Bad Education Policy, L. A. TIMES, Mar. 14, 2010, at A21 (asserting that empirical evidence suggests programs relying "on the power of incentives and competition.... may well make schools worse, not better").
124. See, e.g., Kami Chavis Simmons, Cooperative Federalism and Police Reform: Using Congressional Spending Power to Promote Police Accountability, 62 ALA. L. REV. 351 (2011).
125. See Orly Lobel, The Renew Deal: The Fall of Regulation and the Rise of Governance in Contemporary Legal Thought, 89 MINN. L. REV. 342, 345-46 (2004).
126. 154 CONG. REC. S4284, S4285 (2008) (statement of Sen. Clinton). To demonstrate the need for college access reform for which the Act was created, Sen. Clinton relied upon the CPS study discussed supra at Part I. A.2.a.
127. See Coaching Our Adolescents for College Heights Act, S. 3027, 110th Cong. (2008), at 2.
128. 154 Cong. Rec. S4284, S4285 (statement of Sen. Clinton);
129. See, e.g., NATIONAL COLLEGE ADVISING CORPS, http://www.advisingcorps.org/ (last visited Sept. 23, 2011) (providing services to 65, 000 high school students in 13 states).
130. See Federal TRIO Programs, U. S. DEP'T EDUC., http://www2.ed.gov/about/ offices/list/ope/trio/index.html (last visited Sept. 23, 2011).
131. Higher Education Act of 1965, Pub. L. No. 89-329, 79 Stat. 1219
132. (codified as amended in scattered sections of 20 U. S. C. (2001)).
133. See History of the Federal TRIO Programs, U. S. DEP'T EDUC, http://wwv2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/triohistory.html (last visited Sept. 23, 2011).
134. See Talent Search Program, U. S. DEP'T EDUC., http://www2.ed.gov/ programs/triotalent/index.html (last visited Sept. 23, 2011);
135. Upward Bound Program, U. S. DEP'T EDUC., http://www2.ed.gov/programs/ trioupbound/index.html (last visited Sept. 23, 2011).
136. Originally envisioned to help students overcome social capital deficits, a recent study found that "SES and family composition continue to have statistical significance... in the lives and future choices of students, regardless of the [TRIO] programs provided by the federal government." Rachael Walsh, Helping or Hurting: Are Adolescent Intervention Programs Minimizing Racial Inequality?, 43 EDUC. & URB. SOC'Y 370, 382 (2011), available at http://eus.sagepub.com/content/early/2010/l1/06/0013124510380419. This does not mean that the initiatives are without value, however-the same study also found that "program participation enables low-SES African American students to attend college at a rate equivalent to average-SES White students," an indication that the programs "can benefit African American and Hispanic students immensely when properly implemented."
137. The Bush administration proposed dismanding both Upward Bound and Talent Search in 2005, then again in 2006, calling the programs "ineffective. " Kelly Field, Are the Right Students 'Upward Bound?', CHRON. HIGHER EDUC., Aug. 17, 2007, at A20. After proposing only to level-fund TRIO programs last year, the Obama administration's latest budget makes a show of support, increasing the TRIO budget by $67 million.
138. Kelly Field, Higher-Education Programs Are Among Targets of Planned Federal Budget Freeze, CHRON. HIGHER EDUC., (June 8, 2010), http://chronicle. com/article/Higher-Education-Programs-Are/65810/(last visited Sept. 23, 2011).
139. See PATRICIA M. MCDONOUGH, CHOOSING COLLEGES 4 (1997).
140. See generally PATRICIA GÁNDARA & DEBORAH BIAL, NAT'L POSTSECONDARY EDUC. COOP., PAVING THE WAY TO POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION (2001) (exploring effectiveness of programs designed to promote post-secondary education);
141. JACQUELINE E. KING, COLL. BD., THE DECISION TO GO TO COLLEGE (1996) (collecting surveys finding access to college counseling important in decision to go to college);
142. ANDREA VENEZIA ET AL., STANFORD UNIV., BETRAYING THE DREAM (2002) (providing recommendations that organizations can follow to better prepare students for college);
143. Patricia M. McDonough, Counseling Matters: Knowledge, Assistance, and Organizational Commitment in College Preparation, in PREPARING FOR COLLEGE 69 (William G. Tierney et al. eds., 2004) (analyzing the "history, role, effectiveness, and needs for college counseling in high schools");
144. James E. Rosenbaum et al., Gatekeeping in an Era of More Open
145. Gates: High School Counselors' Views of Their Influence on Students' College Plans, 104 AM. J. EDUC. 257 (1996) (investigating how counselors view their roles in leading students toward college).
146. See Patrick O'Connor, Inadequate Counsel, DIVERSE: ISSUES IN HIGHER EDUC., Dec. 23, 2010, at 17. Furthermore, expanding the counseling function would provide integral support to a wide spectrum of education policy goals.
147. with HARV. GRADUATE SCH. OF EDUC., supra note 70, at 26-28 (asserting that high schools should place less emphasis on a four-year college education as a goal for all students and more emphasis on career training, which would require reform to America's "wholly inadequate" current counseling framework in order to be effective).
148. see PATRICIA M. MCDONOUGH, NAT'L ASS'N FOR COLL. ADMISSIONS COUNSEUNG, COUNSEUNG AND COLLEGE COUNSELING IN AMERICA'S HIGH SCHOOLS 10 (2004), available at http://www.nacacnet.org/PublicationsResources/Research/Documents/WhitePaper- McDonough.pdf.
149. Schools that primarily serve vulnerable students suffer counseling services unequal in both quantity and quality. See U. S. DEP'T EDUC., NAT'L CENTER FOR EDUC. STATISTICS, THE CONDITION OF EDUCATION 262 (2010) (finding that high-poverty schools (those with seventy-six to one-hundred percent free or reduced-priced lunch eligible students) averaged 2.8 counselors per school, while low-poverty schools (those that did not participate in free or reduced-priced lunch) averaged 3.4 counselors per school);
150. NAT'L ASS'N FOR COLL. ADMISSIONS COUNSELING, STATE OF COLLEGE ADMISSION 2006, at 55 (David A. Hawkings & Melissa Clinedinst eds., 2006), available at http://www.nacacnet.org/PublicationsResources/Research/Documents/ 06StateofAdmission.pdf.
151. See David A. Hawkins & Melissa Clinedinst, NAT'L ASS'N FOR COLL. ADMISSIONS COUNSEUNG, COLLEGE ACCESS AGENDA FOR THE 111TH CONGRESS (2010), available at http://www.nacacnet.org/LegislativeAction/Recommendations/ Documents/College%20Access%20Agenda.pdf;
152. Some states and large school districts already utilize such technological tools. See, e.g., CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE, http://chooseyourfuture.org/(last visited Sept. 23, 2011) (Chicago Public Schools);
153. COLLEGE IN COLORADO, http://collegeincolorado.org/(last visited Sept. 23, 2011). Technology could also streamline the college application and financial aid process and thereby level the playing field for vulnerable students. Lawmakers and colleges should consider moving toward a paperless, consolidated college and financial aid application format to ease student transition from high school to college. The role of technology in college advising should be complementary and not a substitute for meaningful human contact.
154. See NAT'L ASS'N COLL. ADMISSIONS COUNSELING, supra note 183.
155. The Department of Education's Race to the Top Initiative and Investing in Innovation Fund promotes state, district, and school reforms as well as promotes public-private collaboration. See U. S. DEP'T OF EDUC., RACE TO THE TOP PROGRAM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (2009) available at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/ racetothetop/executive-summary.pdf. The challenge with such competitive grant programs as opposed to formula grants will be ensuring that large numbers of students in the neediest schools receive college counseling.
156. Under the current Elementary and Secondary Education Act, states must report only on state academic achievement standards and graduation rates of secondary schools. See 20 U. S. C. § 6311 (2006).
157. See U. S. DEP'T EDUC., A BLUEPRINT FOR REFORM 8-9 (2001), available at http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/blueprint/blueprint.pdf.
158. Twenty-one states track the percentage of high school graduates who go to college, fourteen states track college GPA, credit attainment, or other academic indicators for students from individual high schools, and nine states track one year college retention rates. U. S. DEP'T EDUC., COLLEGE-AND CAREER-READY STUDENTS 4 (2010), available at http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/ leg/blueprint/college-careerready.pdf. The increasing number of states that track college readiness data indicates "both that States see the importance of such data in judging school quality and that they have already laid the groundwork for including such indicators in public reporting and accountability systems."
159. See Ryan, Perverse Incentives, supra note 118, at 934-36 (describing problems with absolute standards and proposing a value-added assessment system);
160. see also LAWYERS COMM. FOR CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER LAW ET AL., supra note 133, at 3-5 (arguing that the federal government should "shift the [f]ocus from [c]ompetitive [g] rants for a [f]ew [s]tates to [incentives for [a] 11 [s]tates to [e]mbrace [s]ystemic [r]eform" to more effectively assist vulnerable student populations).
161. See Aspen Inst. Educ. & Soc'y Program, Core Principles for New Accountability in Education 8 (Nov. 2009) (working draft), available at http://www.aspeninstitute.org/sites/default/files/content/docs/pubs/ Core-Principles-April2010.pdf.
162. See Ryan, Perverse Incentives, supra note 118. A similar construct could apply to measurement of higher education outcomes focused on achievement gains in higher education outcomes over time for individuals or groups of students.
163. See, e.g., Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U. S. C. § 1232 (g);
164. Family Educational Rights and Privacy, 34 C. F. R. § 99 (2002).
165. See Ryan, Perverse Incentives, supra note 118, at 955-56 (addressing the fact that "suburbanite" neighborhoods are often perceived as having "good" schools and therefore will attract residents).
166. See TATIANA MELGUIZO & ALICIA C. DOWD, THE STUDY OF ECONOMIC, INFORMATIONAL, AND CULTURAL BARRIERS TO COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENT TRANSFER ACCESS AT SELECTIVE INSTITUTIONS 36-37 (2008), available at http://www.jkcf.org/ assets/files/0000/0196/Section-I.pdf.
167. J. B. TURNER, A PLAN FOR AN INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY FOR THE STATE OF ILLINOIS 8 (1851).
168. See ANTHONY P. CARNEVALE ET AL., GEORGETOWN UNIV. CTR. ON EDUC. & THE WORKFORCE, HELP WANTED: POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION AND TRAINING REQUIRED 25 (2009), available at http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/ helpwanted.pdf;
169. ANTHONY P. CARNEVALE ET AL., HELP WANTED: PROJECTIONS OF JOBS AND EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS THROUGH 2018, EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 (2010), available at http://cew.georgetown.edu/jobs2018/(follow "Executive Summary" hyperlink).
170. Notably, the Chicago Public Schools and Geoffrey Canada's Harlem
171. See generally HOWARD R. BOWEN, INVESTMENT IN LEARNING 16-17 (John Hopkins Univ. Press 1997) (1977) (describing the chief products of higher education);
172. WALTER W. MCMAHON, HIGHER LEARNING, GREATER GOOD (2009) (examining the private and social benefits of higher education).
173. See JOHN DEWEY, DEMOCRACY AND EDUCATION 101, 114 (1916);