America's Great Working Class Colleges

Parents Forum
1

From the NY Times – https://nyti.ms/2k1eAps – a look at the colleges that provide the greatest level of upward mobility for their students.

Which colleges rank highest? The top 5, ranked by percent of students from the bottom fifth of income distribution who end up in the top three-fifths:

  1. New Jersey Institute of Technology
  2. Pace
  3. Cal State, Bakersfield
  4. University of California, Irvine
  5. Cal Poly, Pomona

NOTE: This data comes from the same study that is the subject of this thread: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1956644-some-colleges-have-more-students-from-the-top-1-percent-than-the-bottom-60-find-yours-p1.html

However, because the article is looking at a somewhat different issue – educational outcomes rather than simply enrollment patterns – I thought it was worth a separate thread.

2

Interesting to see NJIT on the top of this list - it has been taking a sound beating in the thread on states losing students to other states. (as have many NJ schools)

I think NJIT and Pace top this list mostly because of their locations - easily commutable to by a large population of low income inner city students yet very close to great big city job opportunities (wall street!).

3

There are a ton of articles coming out that rely on these same data. Very interesting stuff. Looking at that top 5 list you posted - I’d guess that the mobility benefit is largely a result of the concentration of STEM majors, particularly engineering, at those particular schools. The schools on the list have fewer super wealthy kids up front, then have lots of STEM majors who will then go on to earn relatively high salaries upon graduation. Having said that, kudos to the schools for their success in attracting these students and then seeing them through to graduation.

4

Pace actually doesn’t have an engineering program - they do offer lots of computer science and business degrees.

5

I find Pace very interesting because it is a private college, so could be quite expensive to attend.

Because the top 5 list I posted was based on transition from bottom fifth of the economic scale to top three-fifths - there isn’t a particular reason to believe that these grads necessarily went into STEM fields – median-income earners would be included in those figures. Just that post-college they transitioned out of the band for minimum wage, service workers and at least found middle-class, white collar employment. So it might not be a job as an engineer; it could be a job as a school teacher.

6

I have three nephews at NJIT. They love it and are doing really well. Lots of opportunities there.

7

^A couple I know who are squarely blue collar are sending their D to NJIT–she’s in the Honors program, getting a ton of attention from mentor women in her area of study, and going to graduate in four years with BS and MS. She loves everything about it.

8

Nice to hear the praise for NJIT. If I am not mistaken, they offer full tuition, room and board for NMF, making it a great choice for a high achieving working class student.

https://www5.njit.edu/financialaid/typesofaid/scholarships/meritbasedawards.php