Washington University boosts low-income enrollment, but not enough for critics

America’s higher education promise says that a student with the right mix of smarts and determination can open the doors to a bright future by going to college, even when starting out with meager finances.

That promise is one of the reasons schools from Harvard to Mizzou receive generous tax breaks and subsidies from the federal government; at their core, colleges and universities are supposed to be charitable organizations.

But too often, critics say, schools prioritize prestige over charity — essentially racing to raise the most money in order to recruit the most renowned researchers, while building the most lavish campuses.

Amid that criticism, Washington University set out two years ago to boost its enrollment of talented low-income students, seeking to reverse a practice in which those students were rejected in favor of applicants from wealthier families.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/wash-u-boosts-low-income-enrollment-but-not-enough-for/article_59c136b2-7cdf-5d5b-915b-998b9d9f79a3.html