The American Talent Initiative (ATI) was founded in 2016 on the belief that high-graduation-rate institutions can collectively expand access for tens of thousands of high-achieving, lower-income students across the country. When lower-income students attend these institutions, we know that they are more likely to earn a bachelor's degree, leading to stronger wages and better job prospects throughout their lives.
While gaps in access to the nation's leading colleges pre-dated the pandemic, these disparities have only widened in the past year for lower-income students and their families. At the same time, the pandemic and economic crisis have tested the ability of higher education institutions nationwide to serve their students and expand access. As we look to move forward as a nation, ATI's goal to increase socioeconomic diversity - by enrolling, supporting, and graduating 50,000 additional lower-income students by 2025 at our nation's high-graduation rate institutions - is more important than ever.
Committing to Aspirational Goals
Before and during the pandemic, ATI members that have increased lower-income student enrollment have leaders that prioritize and put resources behind their commitments to expanded opportunity (read about ATI progress to date here). To address both the pre-COVID and COVID-era declines in Pell enrollment, the ATI steering committee asked all ATI presidents to reaffirm their commitment to the 50,000-by-2025 goal.
This effort is called the "Accelerating Opportunity campaign," mobilizing members to pledge to public, aspirational lower-income student enrollment goals based on their 2019-20 enrollment levels:
- Members with a lower-income enrollment share below 15 percent will aim for an ambitious goal between 15 and 20 percent by 2025, or an equally ambitious increase in the number of lower-income students by 2025.
- Members with a lower-income student enrollment share between 15 and 20 percent will make measurable progress toward a 20 percent share of lower-income student enrollment or an equally ambitious increase in the number of lower-income students by 2025.
- Members with a lower-income student enrollment share above 20 percent will aim to at least maintain opportunity for lower-income students at current levels, if not expand enrollment by 2025.
- All members, regardless of lower-income share, aim to minimize equity-based graduation gaps by 2025.
Select Institutional Commitments
In addition to maintaining its Pell share, Lawrence aims to increase its overall six-year graduation rate and will achieve this goal by closing existing equity gaps between Pell students and their non-Pell peers. Lawrence has launched an innovative, comprehensive Strategic Equitable Enrollment Management Process to identify and tackle the various barriers that students face en route to degrees, including exploring an evidence-based First Year Experience initiative to encourage second-year persistence. Lawrence has also hired its first-ever Associate Vice President for Enrollment, a role exclusively devoted to student retention and graduation.
William & Mary is striving to increase in-state Pell enrollment to 20% by 2025, with the continued aim of meeting full need for all in-state students even as enrollment grows. To achieve this goal, W&M will implement enhanced, in-state financial aid packaging models that focus on grants over loans, and improve clarity about affordability for Pell-eligible students. Additionally, they will build on the success of a recent fundraising campaign to drive total scholarship gifts to $375 million by 2025.
Vanderbilt aims to increase its share of undergraduate Pell students to 20% by 2025 and continue to retain Pell students at 97%. To bolster its efforts, Vanderbilt will continue to meet 100% of students’ demonstrated financial need without loans through Opportunity Vanderbilt.
SMU has made significant gains in just the past year, enrolling an additional 145 Pell-eligible students. This progress is driven by an institution-wide effort to increase its Pell share to 15% and boost the six-year graduation rate of Pell students to equal or surpass non-Pell students by Fall 2025. Additionally, through Access SMU, a scholarship program targeting first-generation students and those from lower-income backgrounds in Texas, SMU is raising awareness of the experiential and educational opportunities available at SMU. Need-based aid and financial resources are dedicated so students can participate in SMU’s high-impact opportunities at the same rate as their peers.
Indiana University Bloomington remains committed to adding 350 additional Pell students and cutting the graduation gap between Pell and non-Pell students in half by 2025. To accelerate progress towards this goal, Indiana is working to broaden need-based financial aid for Pell students in the state, continue its test-optional admissions and test-excluded scholarship policy, and place near-peer college advisers in underserved Indiana high schools. IU is also expanding partnerships with community colleges and community-based organizations to improve access for low-income and first-generation college students.
Lehigh has set clear goals to broaden access, increasing its Pell share to 20 percent by expanding partnerships with community-based organizations and committing to double community college transfer enrollment. Beyond access, Lehigh aims to reduce equity-based gaps for students across their higher education experience, including their sense of belonging, graduation rates, and postgraduate education and employment rates. To bridge these disparities, Lehigh is working to reduce barriers to high-impact, experiential learning and research opportunities and connect students to scholarly awards.
Having already achieved an increase in Pell share in its undergraduate student body from 13 to 18%, Yale aims to increase the total Pell share to 20% by Fall 2025, representing approximately 1,240 Pell students; a more than 70% increase in the number of Pell-eligible students enrolled in fall 2015. To make that jump, Yale has planned aggressive, innovative outreach campaigns that emphasize affordability, dedicated programs for first-generation and lower-income students led by current students from shared backgrounds, and sustaining recently expanded strategic partnerships with Questbridge and College Board.
As a part of its recommitment, the University of Michigan will seek to make continued increases in its Pell enrollment and reduce the five-point Pell graduation gap through Fall 2025. In support of these aspirational goals, Michigan will increase funds to support awareness-building for its Go Blue Guarantee, a full tuition scholarship for in-state students, and the Victors Award, which closes the financial aid gap for out-of-state students from lower-income backgrounds.
Penn is focused on making meaningful progress toward a Pell share of 20% in its undergraduate student body and closing graduation gaps among Pell students. To accelerate that progress, Penn will build out its outreach and programming for students from lower-income backgrounds, highlight its commitment to meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need without loans, and continue to expand Penn First Plus, a hub for students from first-generation and lower-income backgrounds to access academic, financial, and personal support.
Wisconsin aims to build on the gains in Pell student enrollment it made during the pandemic and make continued progress toward a 20% Pell share, adding 200 Pell students for the second year in a row. To maintain that growth, Wisconsin will bolster its partnerships with community-based organizations and continue to invest in its full-need and full-tuition financial aid programs. To support students’ success once they arrive on campus, Wisconsin also plans to expand financial assistance for students enrolled in summer courses and institutional emergency funding.
Dayton has committed to an effort to increase the representation of Pell-eligible students in its first-year, first-time cohort to at least 20% by Fall 2025 and Pell-eligible students overall to 19% by that time. To realize those goals, Dayton is expanding its network of high school, community-based, community college, and veteran-based partnerships. Alongside this strategy, Dayton will continue to invest in the growth of signature initiatives like the Flyer Promise Scholars program and University of Dayton Sinclair Academy.
In addition to maintaining steady growth in its Pell enrollment, Susquehanna is committing to eliminate graduation gaps among its Pell students. To achieve this goal, Susquehanna will implement SU 2.0, a campus-wide initiative to systematically eliminate obstacles to student persistence and success. Susquehanna has also joined a new TRIO-funded program to expand the suite of resources it provides to students from lower-income backgrounds.
131 Institutions have joined the Accelerating Opportunity campaign, signing a commitment to support these goals.
as of October 12, 2022