Ask Wake Forest University to Make College Affordable for Low-Income Students

  • by: Susan V
  • recipient: Wake Forest Prestident Nathan Hatch

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote about a “society” that “claims to reward the best and brightest regardless of family background” but in practice that’s not the case. In other words, the “American Dream” is in trouble. But America’s wealthiest colleges aren’t doing their part to change this.

Krugman wrote specifically about the “society” of Harvard business school, but his comments are applicable to other wealthy colleges.

Based on data compiled by the Obama administration and posted on College Scorecard, ProPublica found that some our richest colleges are the least helpful to poorer students, leaving them saddled with an “average of more than $20,000 in federal loans.“

Among several of these wealthy colleges, the amount of debt for low-income students generally goes up as the school’s endowment amount goes down. However, if you compare student debt of two with similar endowments like Wake Forest ($1.1 billion) and Vassar ($ 1 billion) you have to wonder what Wake Forest is doing wrong. According to ProPublica’s calculations, Wake Forest leaves low-income graduates with an average debt of $29,150, while Vassar’s incur about a third of that debt!

Vassar President Hill told ProPublica that “Schools that have the resources should be giving out more in need-based grant aid.”
The impact of heavy loan debt is far-reaching, says ProPublica, putting young graduates “at a disadvantage for years,"limiting their ability to save or buy a home.

Even though Wake Forest has admirably attracted more low-income students by allowing applicants to opt out of sending SAT scores, that incentive is “ultimately inadequate, says Fox 8 News, “if those students can’t afford to actually enroll.”

Sign this petition to ask Wake Forest University to make college more affordable for low-income students.

We, the undersigned, believe America’s wealthiest colleges have an obligation to make higher education more affordable for low-income students.


The irony of lower-income students being burdened by such heavy debt after graduation is that the debt defeats one of the primary purposes of earning the degree in the first place: to move upward, economically, in society.


ProPublica’s explanation of how Vassar made a turnaround in its policies on helping poorer students should serve as an example to Wake Forest and other wealthy colleges. In 2006 Vassar hired Catherine Bond Hill as its new president, and during her first years she instituted policies that accepted “students regardless of their financial background,” and replaced “loans with grants to poorer students.” Then she aggressively recruited applicants from poorer neighborhoods. “After 10 years, adds ProPublica, Vassar became “one of the most affordable colleges in the country for low-income students.”


Fox 8 News, High Point, NC, points out that while test-optional applications are opening up more opportunities for low income students to apply, the motivation behind Wake Forest and other colleges allowing applicants to opt out of providing test scores may not be totally altruistic. Fox 8 explains that “Adopting a test-optional policy can give institutions a boost in the all-important college rankings game” by increasing numbers who apply and the percentage the college rejects, “which lowers their acceptance rate and raises the institution’s perceived selectivity.”


"Attracting more minority and low-income students to apply is admirable,» adds Fox, "but ultimately inadequate if those students can’t afford to actually enroll.” and also not helpful if those who do enroll are burdened with too much debt upon graduation!


Even though Vassar, a much smaller college than Wake Forest, has a high per-student endowment, other colleges, like the University of Florida, with less per-student endowment than Wake Forest, have also shown that poorer students don’t have to be buried in debt to get an education that will help them move up in society. As Hill told Propublica “Schools that have the resources should be giving out more in need-based grant aid.”


We agree and ask Wake Forest to consider initiating policy changes to make college more affordable for low-income students.

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