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Cleveland.com
7 Ohio colleges fall far below average for percent of low-income students with Pell grants
By Emily Bamforth
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Some of Ohio’s highest-ranked colleges and
universities enroll low-income students at far below the national
average, according to a report released Wednesday by Washington
D.C.-based Education Reform Now.
The group examined the percentage of students receiving Pell grants at
Ohio colleges, and found that seven schools -- including Case Western
Reserve University and Miami University -- fell far short of both the
national and state averages. Federal Pell grants don’t need to be
repaid and largely to go to students with household incomes less than
$60,000 a year.
The national average is 31 percent, according to the report. The Ohio average is 29.38 percent.
First-year classes at 42 Ohio four-year colleges and universities met
or surpassed the national average. Among them: Kent State University,
University of Akron, Cleveland State University and Ohio Wesleyan
University. Cleveland State University came in at 45.12 percent.
Central State University, a historically black college in Columbus, has an 87 percent Pell share.
But the many of the state’s most well-regarded universities do not meet that bar.
First-year Pell percentage rates for the seven schools identified in the report as falling short are:
-- Case Western Reserve University: 13 percent
-- Kenyon College: 9.4 percent
-- Oberlin College: 9.5 percent
-- Miami University: 10.9 percent
-- Ohio State University: 16.7 percent
-- The College of Wooster: 17.3 percent
-- University of Dayton: 13.2 percent
James Murphy, the author of the report, said it’s important to compare
these schools to others in Ohio with similar admission rates that boast
higher access for low-income students.
“We are under no illusion that it’s simple and easy to increase access
at these colleges,” he said. “It’s expensive, right? For every
low-income student you enroll, you’re potentially losing a student who
will pay full tuition. So it comes at a cost for these institutions.
The thing is to acknowledge that it’s difficult, but why have all these
other colleges and universities done this?”
For example, CWRU, when compared to other selective, private STEM
schools across the county, falls below the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology and the Rochester Institute of Technology for low-income
access. MIT and RIT had rates of 17.5 percent and 30.4 percent,
respectively.
And, CWRU’s share of Pell students dropped steadily over the last
decade, from over 20 percent, though the share increased nearly 5
percent between the 2016 and 2017 school years.
Oberlin and Kenyon fall short compared to Denison University, which has
a 20.77 percent Pell grant student share. Where Oberlin and Kenyon have
28 percent and 30 percent admit rates, Denison has a 42 percent admit
rate.
“The data is distorted by only focusing on low-income students and
minority students that are first-time, full time,” Association of
Independent Colleges and Universities Ohio President C. Todd Jones said.
We know from studies of population that these students tend to be more
likely to be transfer students, and they tend to be part-time students.
As a result the data in here that claims to be the population of low
income and minority student is actually omitting a significant number."
He added that the data does not include Ohio’s College Credit Plus
program and that several of the schools on the list do excellent work
in that area.
Miami University has the smallest Pell grant share among Ohio’s public
schools. Miami falls behind other selective schools, including the
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (14.9 percent), Purdue University
in Indiana (17.2 percent) and the University of Illinois (22.32
percent.)
Miami issued a statement in response to the report which included that
factoring in scholarships, grants and all financial aid, nearly 30
percent of Ohio students at Miami last year paid between zero and
$5,000 in tuition and fees to attend the Oxford campus.
This year, approximately 80 percent of Oberlin students received
financial aid, totaling more than $63 million in state, federal, and
institutional grants, according to the university.
Miami’s statement also cited the school’s graduation rate of Pell grant
receiving students, which is 71 percent and among the highest in the
state. The report did not use graduation rates as its main metric.
“These universities aren’t necessarily doing a bad job when students
get in. In fact, I think in many cases they are doing a terrific job,"
Murphy said. "But the problem is, if you don’t let those students in,
if you’re not going out and finding the really qualified students who
are low-income and working class, then you’re essentially not doing
much at all for social mobility in the state and nationally as well.”
The Ohio schools that had the lowest share of Pell grant students also
are among some of the most expensive. Miami University’s tuition, fees,
housing and meals come out to $30,033 before financial aid. University
of Dayton, a private Catholic school, charges more than $50,000 per
year for tuition, fees, housing and meals.
Ohio State University, gaged at 16.7 percent, launched a new program
after the data cut-off in the study targeting low-income students. The
Buckeye Opportunity Program covers any gap between state and federal
funding and tuition and mandatory fees.
As of fall 2018, when the program launched, 22.4 percent of new first
year freshmen on all Ohio State campuses were Pell eligible. The
program expanded to regional campuses in spring 2019. Ohio State’s
regional campuses are open to all Ohio high school graduates.
Since the program launched, it supported approximately 4,000 Pell-eligible students from Ohio.
“The best bet for low income families is to go to the kinds of
institutions that have really high graduation rates that are well known
in the region and nationally, because they have a greater chance of
essentially escaping poverty in some cases, or, you know, if not
something quite that drastic, a chance of moving up the economic
ladder," Murphy said.
Education Reform Now announced the results of the report on Wednesday
morning at the Ohio statehouse. State Rep. Catherine Ingram, a Democrat
from Cincinnati, wrote a letter to higher education Chancellor Randy
Gardner asking for an assessment of college access at these schools.
“To my mind and I hope yours, college access, affordability, quality,
and student body diversity go hand-in-hand,” Ingram wrote in the letter.
Murphy said though private schools don’t receive direct financing from
the state, their students receive state funding and the state can issue
bonds to support capital projects at these universities.
Jones said this is misleading. The bond program only allows private
colleges to borrow at the same rate as public colleges. But private
colleges pay the bonds back with private money, not public money.
Gardner, in an email to Ingram, said he was willing to meet with her
about any concerns. He released a statement on Wednesday afternoon as a
response to the report and the letter:
"The DeWine Administration is committed to ensuring access to higher
education for all students who seek postsecondary education in Ohio.
Our budget includes the largest increase in history in need-based
financial aid through the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG), on top
of continued support for College Credit Plus, which has saved Ohio
families $569 million in tuition costs over the past four years.
These priorities and other initiatives provide aid and support to
Ohio’s students. These include transfer students, non-traditional
students, and those who attend university regional campuses. Notably,
these groups of students were not included in the report."
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