‘NY Times’: UC is California’s upward-mobility machine
University of California campuses took six of the top seven slots in new rankings that measure top colleges’ efforts on economic diversity, published today in the New York Times.
September 17, 2015
University of California campuses took six of the top seven slots in new rankings that measure top colleges’ efforts on economic diversity, published today in the New York Times.
The Times called UC “California’s upward-mobility machine.”
Top colleges for economic diversity
UC Irvine
UC Davis
UC Santa Barbara
UC San Diego
UC Los Angeles
University of Florida
UC Berkeley
In the Upshot’s College Access Index, UC Irvine placed first, followed by UC’s Davis, Santa Barbara, San Diego. Los Angeles and Berkeley campuses, a string interrupted only by the University of Florida, also a public university, in sixth place. Berkeley placed seventh.
Vassar is the top private school to make the list, in eighth place, followed by Amherst, Pomona and Harvard, which ranked 11th.
According to the Times, the rankings are based on “the share of students who receive Pell grants (which typically go to families making less than $70,000); the graduation rate of those students; and the price that colleges charge both low- and middle-income students.” Colleges with a five-year graduation rate of 75 percent or higher were included.
The Times said that while affluent students predominate at many liberal arts colleges, “the University of California, by contrast, enrolls large number of high-performing students of all economic backgrounds.”
See the full rankings on the New York Times site: “Top Colleges Doing the Most for Low-Income Students”