Feature Story

March 27, 2008

Does Education Increase Economic Mobility?

MDRC:

In 2005, for instance, college graduates earned $25,000 more on average than high school graduates.

Not only are the children of relatively well-off parents more likely to earn more as adults, but they are more likely to get a college degree than children of parents with lower incomes (as the figure below demonstrates).

The policy challenge is to make it possible for more young people from the bottom quintiles of the family income distribution to access higher education and succeed in college.

One promising avenue for many low-income students is community college.

Because of their relative low cost and accessibility, community colleges serve large numbers of low-income and first-generation college students.

MDRC has a group of projects focused on designing and evaluating promising interventions to help community college students remain in school and earn credentials.

Opening Doors is testing reforms in curricula and instruction, enhanced student services, and financial aid supplements.

The results from two programs --- one in Louisiana that offered performance-based scholarships and another in New York that placed incoming freshmen in "learning communities" --- are particularly encouraging.

MDRC is participating in Lumina Foundation for Education's ambitious Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count initiative, which involves 82 community colleges in 15 states and many national partner organizations.

Other MDRC projects are investigating emergency financial aid programs, learning communities, and programs that integrate student support services with intensive academic instruction and supports.

Finally, MDRC is a partner in the National Center for Postsecondary Research (NCPR), which is housed at the Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University, in New York City.