Elite Colleges Shift Focus to Low-Income Student Enrollment

Thu Dec 11 2025 08:33:44 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Top U.S. universities are ramping up efforts to enroll low-income students, adapting their admissions strategies in light of recent legal changes affecting affirmative action policies.

Following the Supreme Court's ban on affirmative action, elite universities are prioritizing socioeconomic diversity by enrolling record numbers of low-income students. Schools like Princeton and MIT report significant increases in Pell Grant recipients, aiming to expand access to education despite potential legal challenges from the federal government regarding their admissions practices.

Elite colleges across the United States are increasingly enrolling low-income students, marking a shift in admissions priorities in response to legal changes surrounding affirmative action. The absence of affirmative action policies has led schools like Princeton University to focus more on socioeconomic diversity, resulting in an unprecedented enrollment of economically disadvantaged students.

Princeton's latest freshman class boasts one in four students qualified for federal Pell Grants, up from less than 10% two decades ago. This reflects a broader trend among leading universities, many of which are intensifying recruitment efforts in underserved urban and rural areas while offering free tuition to eligible students.

Despite these advancements, there is potential for conflict with the federal government, particularly as the Trump administration has expressed concerns over the legality of favoring underprivileged groups in admissions. However, college administrators argue that their practices are legally sound.

For instance, MIT has reported a substantial 43% increase in Pell-eligible students over the previous two years, attributing this growth to both federal policy changes and institutional efforts to widen access. Similarly, Amherst College has introduced free tuition policies while eliminating legacy preferences, yielding a rise in low-income enrollment.

Nonetheless, this pivot towards economic diversity does not guarantee racial diversity, as many schools witness declines in minority enrollments despite increases in low-income admissions. Critics argue that shifting the focus exclusively to economic status could inadvertently result in neglecting racial disparities.

Legal scrutiny has already emerged, with claims from the Trump administration suggesting that prioritizing socioeconomic factors could act as a backdoor for racial discrimination. As the landscape of college admissions evolves, the balance between expanding opportunities for low-income students and maintaining diverse racial representation remains a critical challenge.