STUDY: Graduation rate gap for low-income UMD students above average

University of Maryland students who receive Pell Grants graduate at a lower rate than their higher-income peers, according to an Education Trust report released last week.

About 75 percent of Pell-eligible students graduated from this university within six years, based on 2013 data. In comparison, almost 84 percent of students who did not qualify for the federal financial aid — typically awarded to families making less than $40,000 — earned a diploma in that period.

“We want to make sure that lower-income students are achieving the same outcomes and have the same opportunities to do so,” said Meredith Welch, a higher education research and policy assistant with The Education Trust. “Having information on that gap is really an important piece in knowing how well an institution could be serving other students.”

The average gap within each of the 1,149 individual institutions in the report was 5.7 percent, compared with this university’s 8.2 percent gap. Among all students nationally, there was a 14 percent disparity — the result of outlier schools with larger gaps swaying the data.

“Maryland seems to be on the higher end,” Welch said. “It’s not atrocious, but I do think there’s always room to improve.”

Welch said there are a variety of reasons fewer Pell-eligible students walk away with a diploma. Many children from low-income families, for example, receive a poor K-12 education, she said, putting them behind once they get to college.

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Senior Marilyn Mensah, a Pell Grant recipient, said the added pressure from home might also be a factor.

“If your parents don’t make that much money, it could be stressful,” said the community health major, who is on track to graduate in four years. “You’re trying to find ways to make ends meet, and that’s another worry on top of school, which is stressful enough.”

About 35 percent of schools in the report had virtually no gap — 3 percent or less — between the two groups of students. For another third, the difference was more than 9 percent. This university falls in the middle third nationwide.

This university also ranked sixth out of 15 institutions in its peer group, which was determined by collegeresults.org — an Education Trust-managed website — based on the schools’ similar characteristics, such as enrollment and admissions requirements.

There are five Big Ten institutions — the University of Michigan, Purdue University, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Minnesota and the University of Illinois — in this university’s peer group, with differences in Pell and non-Pell graduation rates ranging from 15.6 percent at Minnesota to 6.5 percent at Illinois.

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Out of the entire group, the University of California, Berkeley, had the smallest gap at 4.5 percent, while Auburn University ranked last with 17.3 percent.

The various support services institutions offer to low-income students could explain the range, Welch said.

Monique Boyd, this university’s financial aid director, said there are initiatives such as the Academic Achievement Programs and Incentive Awards Program in place to “bridge that achievement gap.”

“Certainly we want all students to be successful regardless of their income level and socioeconomic background,” Boyd said.

The AAP provides primarily low-income and first-generation students with academic and financial support services, while the IAP provides scholarships and mentorship to selected students from Baltimore City and Prince George’s County.

“There are some new initiatives that I’m not at liberty to discuss because they haven’t been unveiled yet, but rest assured, this university is aware that there’s more work to be done,” Boyd said.

The government spent about $31.5 billion on the Pell Grant program in 2013-14, helping about 8.6 million low-income students attend school. In 2012-13, this university got more than a $22 million cut. The Education Trust report will allow officials to “take a look to see what we are doing and if it’s working and what we can improve on,” Boyd said.

“Without those funds, we don’t really know what enrollment of low-income students would look like,” Welch said. “But we believe that institutions have to play a role in ensuring that students not only get access, but are finishing college.”