Which College She Attends.pdf

Researchers from the Equality of Opportunity Project constructed "mobility report cards" for US colleges, showing the percentage of students from each income quintile and their earnings outcomes. Key findings include:

1. Access to colleges varies substantially across the income distribution, with "Ivy-Plus" colleges having more students from the top 1% than the bottom half.
2. Students from low- and high-income families have similar earnings outcomes at the same college.
3. Mobility rates, defined as the fraction of students from the bottom fifth who reach the top fifth, vary substantially across colleges, with mid-tier public schools having higher rates.
4. The top 10 colleges by mobility rate are mostly mid-tier public schools with many low-income students and good outcomes.

The study also found that despite increased financial aid, access for low-income students at elite private colleges has not improved significantly since 2000, while access at high-mobility institutions has actually decreased.