Is an Ivy League education worth it? Research states that for minority and first-generation students, it can be life-changing.
A 2017 Atlantic article, What is an Elite College Really Worth? explores the career and earning outcomes of attending an elite or Ivy-league undergraduate university with a less selective college. Stacy Dale, a mathematician at Mathematica Policy Research, and Alan Krueger, an economist at Princeton University, explore the long-term effects of school choice on two groups of students—one that attended college in the 1970s and another in the early 1990s.
The paper found, among other things, that “the most selective schools really do make an extraordinary difference in life earnings for ‘black and Hispanic students’ and ‘students who had parents with an average of less than 16 years of schooling.’” The article continues that despite the fact that it is easier to get into elite schools if you are wealthy or a legacy student, minority and first-generation students are likely to benefit the most from going to an elite undergraduate institution because “minority students from less-educated families are more likely to rely on colleges to provide the internship and job networks that come automatically from living in a rich neighborhood with wealthy parents.”
Unfortunately, selective elite universities do not do as good as job as they should actively recruiting these students, who statistically under apply to elite universities because of perceptions of cost and unattainability. While Ivy Leagues have made tremendous strides in making education affordable or even no-cost through no-loan programs and an expansion of pell grant recipient admits, these elite institutions themselves can do a better job of letting first generation and minority students know that they are a viable option. Recruiting in low-income high schools and neighborhoods, and using non-traditional recruitment tactics can help ensure that the students who can benefit the most from these schools are actually making it through the gates.