Elite Colleges and Universities Mount Effort to Boost Enrollments of Low-Income Students

Thirty of the nation’s most prestigious colleges and universities are the founding members of The American Talent Initiative. The program, funded by the Bloomberg Philanthropies, hopes to expand to 270 educational institutions nationwide. It has set a goal of enrolling and graduating 50,000 students from low-income families by 2025.

The founding members have pledged to enhance their own efforts to recruit and support lower-income students, learn from each other, and contribute to research that will help other colleges and universities expand opportunities for lower-income students.

“If we’re serious about promoting social mobility in America, we need to ensure that every qualified high school student in the U.S. has an opportunity to attend college. I’m so glad that so many great colleges and universities have stepped up and committed themselves towards that goal. This is a vital first step towards creating a more meritocratic society,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and three-term mayor of New York City.

The 30 founding members of The American Talent Initiative are listed below:

Amherst College

Spelman College

Bates College

Stanford University

Davidson College

University of California-Berkeley

Dartmouth College

University of California-Los Angeles

Duke University

University of Maryland, College Park

Franklin & Marshall College

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Georgetown University

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Georgia Institute of Technology

University of Richmond

Harvard University

University of Texas-Austin

Johns Hopkins University

University of Washington

Lehigh University

Vanderbilt University

The Ohio State University

Vassar College

Pomona College

Washington University-St. Louis

Princeton University

Williams College

Rice University

Yale University

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1 COMMENT

  1. Jah love. I am really happy to learn that so many prestigious and private Colleges and Universities in the U.S. including several IV League institutions and my Alma Mater, UC Berkeley, have committed to exploring ways to matriculate students (of color) from the working caste. I so wish that such programs existed when I sought to be accepted at College during the mid-1980s. And I hope and pray that the folks who are applying now, will find benefit greatly from this program. Blessed love.

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