Experts Say Low-Income Students Most Often Miss College Planning Help

Experts Say Low-Income Students Most Often Miss College Planning Help: Students from lower-income families aspire to college as much as their more affluent peers, but high schools and colleges should still provide targeted assistance to such families to ensure that they are better positioned to turn their college dreams into a reality.

That was one of the major recommendations made Thursday during a College Board Advocacy & Policy Center webcast of a panel discussion, titled “Complexity in the College Admission Process: Low-Income Students.”

Although survey data show that lower-income students place a higher value on higher education than their more affluent peers—for instance, 48 versus 36 percent, respectively, agreed that they need a college degree to succeed—one of the biggest areas where low-income families need help is understanding issues of affordability, panelists said.