New Research Lays Bare Just How Inequitable Elite Colleges Are

Though the nation’s most-selective private colleges have long been criticized for perpetuating inequality, a sweeping new study has reached a stark conclusion: They “amplify the persistence of privilege across generations.” Research released Monday from three education scholars at Harvard and Brown Universities pulls from a trove of data, including federal tax returns, standardized-test scores, and application and admissions records, some of which were anonymously provided to the researchers by selective colleges.
The study looked at “Ivy-Plus” colleges, defined as the eight Ivy League colleges plus Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University, and the University of Chicago.