Freshmen wealthiest in 40 years

A report encompassing 40 years of data collected by UCLA annually from entering undergraduates in colleges across the nation showed freshmen entering college in recent years are wealthier than any class of freshmen entering in the last 35 years.

The report, “American Freshmen: Forty-Year Trends 1966-2006,” was released Monday by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program and is administered nationally by the university’s Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.

According to the data from the report, the gap between the average parental median income for college freshmen and the national average has increased by 14 percent since 1971.

The parental median income of freshmen at $74,000 in 2005 is 60 percent higher than the national average income of $46,326.

The research program is a survey group that looks at the impact of college on students by surveying entering freshmen and graduating seniors. The survey for freshmen looks for what students’ values are coming into college and in what activities they participated in high school, said John Pryor, director of the program.

Pryor said the survey also looks to find what freshmen expect from college and a number of demographic issues including race and sex.

“The important thing about the freshmen survey is that it sets (colleges) up to do additional studies from the survey. If you don’t know what students are like coming in, then you don’t know … how much they gained out of their college careers by the time you do the senior surveys,” Pryor said.

Professor of education, and an author of the report, Jose Luis Santos, said in a statement that the increasing tuitions and fees are a factor accounting for the gap between the median income and the national average, as students with low incomes face tougher choices of whether to attend universities with higher tuitions.

But some don’t agree that the report of the gap will discourage students from applying.

“(The report) makes it sound like we’re well off, but we have the highest percentage of Pell Grant recipients than any other school in the nation,” said Marwa Kaisey, president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council.

Anthony Antonio, professor at Stanford University School of Education, said the average applicant would focus on other issues when applying to college, such as the racial climate and tolerance of accepted minorities, and the report would not affect future applicant pools right away.

USAC internal vice president, Gregory Cendana, said the report was troubling because it suggested a lack of diversity.

“This study will shed light on trying to find a different process that will yield a more diverse population,” Cendana said.

The report also showed more students stated that making more money was an important factor in going to college, and showed a decline in the percentage of students who prioritized racial understanding as “essential” or “very important.”

CORRECTION: This story was corrected to reflect the fact that the UCLA study encompassed all college freshman, not just those at UCLA.

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