College Uncovered

Kirk [00:00:00] Kira Tyler worked as an admissions official at Brandeis University. Behind closed doors, she'd advocate for admitting students of color. After all, she'd been hired specifically to recruit them. Did it always go smoothly?

Kira Tyler [00:00:12] It did not always go smoothly. At the end of the process, we would look to see who we had. And typically it would be like, oh, Kira, you need to take this particular student out.

Kirk [00:00:23] And at least one occasion, the student Tyler was asked to take out of the running was a young black applicant. Tyler alleges that her boss explicitly asked her to remove him from the pool of candidates in favor of a donor son, who was white and less strong academically, and she says it didn't end there. The well-connected student also got a generous scholarship.

Kira Tyler [00:00:44] His sole connection was that his family had ties and they could pay.

Kirk [00:00:55] Welcome to college uncovered. We're pulling back the ivy and uncovering the inner workings of colleges. And today, we're talking about the ultimate high school sport getting into college. I'm Kurt Carapaz.

Conor Halter [00:01:07] And I'm Conor Halter. Today on the show the Meritocracy Myth. Okay, Kirk, let's talk about Kira's story, because critics of considering such things as race and college admissions also argue that applicants should be considered solely on their merit. But the real preference in higher education has favored white, middle and upper income students. And and behind the scenes colleges are shifting financial aid dollars, giving them to families that don't have the greatest financial need just to get them to enroll.

Kirk [00:01:35] You might not be surprised to hear this, especially lately, but it's worse than you think.

Conor Halter [00:01:41] Or I guess it's better if you're well-off.

Kirk [00:01:44] College admissions in this country has long been an insider's game. But the full extent of this is not well known, even after some huge, well-documented scandals. I mean, you don't have to look further than the Varsity Blues case, in which wealthy parents went to extreme lengths, including bribery and fraud, to win coveted admission slots for their kids. Speaking to reporters, then U.S. Attorney Andrew Welling explained how it all worked.

Andrew Welling [00:02:09] We're not talking about donating a building so that a school is more likely to take your son or daughter. We're talking about deception and fraud, fake test scores, fake athletic credentials, fake photographs, bribed college officials.

Conor Halter [00:02:24] Who've remember that these wealthy families cheated to snatch admission slots that could have gone to other students who actually followed the rules.

Steven Byrd [00:02:33] A lot of people believe that college admissions and financial aid is rigged to benefit low income students and minority students. In fact, the opposite is true.

Conor Halter [00:02:42] That's Steven Byrd with the think tank New America.

Steven Byrd [00:02:45] The advantaged have almost all the advantages in college admissions and increasingly in college financial aid.

Conor Halter [00:02:51] Byrd says the result is affirmative action for the rich. His research team recently examined admissions packages at nearly 600 selective public and private colleges. And what did they find? Collectively, they're spending billions on students who don't actually need financial aid.

Steven Byrd [00:03:09] One out of every $4 that these colleges awarded in financial aid went to non needy students. And not only these students are those whom the federal government deems able to afford college without its help.

Conor Halter [00:03:21] Okay, so let's slow down and explain how this works. If you're a college and you have $5,000 of financial aid to spend, you can give $5,000 to one poor kid and get one student and no revenue. Or you could give $1,000 to each of five kids whose families can afford the rest of the tuition. Do you notice how the most needy students are left out of that equation? But the strategy does boost the university's bottom line.

Kirk [00:03:48] Still, kind of some college admissions officers say they have to keep tuition money coming in just to keep the lights on. We talked to Angel Perez, CEO of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling.

Angel Perez [00:04:00] The admissions office has to pay a significant amount of attention to whether or not a family can actually afford to pay, and that is the majority of institutions in America.

Kirk [00:04:09] Perez previously served as an admission official at Trinity College in Hartford. How did the admissions process at Trinity benefit the rich?

Angel Perez [00:04:16] Oh gosh. That's a complicated question because institutions need revenue, tuition revenue in order to survive.

Kirk [00:04:25] The key word there is survive. Colleges are nonprofits, right? Perez remembers making admissions decisions only to have the college's enrollment office run the numbers.

Angel Perez [00:04:35] Overwhelmingly, we were always millions of dollars over in the budget, and so we would have to start cutting students every single year based on which students could afford to pay or not. And the reality of the matter is that that process disproportionately impact students of color.

Kirk [00:04:57] At Brandeis admissions official Kira tyler says the process she witnessed left her demoralized, even at a university with a deep social justice streak.

Kira Tyler [00:05:06] Personally, as a black person, to see sort of, like we were sort of the pawn and ultimately never won the prize, right? Rarely won the prize. Really upsetting.

Kirk [00:05:18] Kia Tyler left Brandeis after a few years, and now she's helping low and middle income students navigate the system as a college coach. We asked Kiara about the Supreme Court's decision banning race considerations in admissions and what it means for her family. She has a 13 year old daughter, so she's not only working in the college counseling field, she's living it. Hey, Kira!

Kira Tyler [00:05:39] Hi, Kirk.

Kirk [00:05:40] So why are you speaking out now about the inequities in admissions and financial aid that you saw at Brandeis?

Kira Tyler [00:05:49] Well, I think that within the light of a huge turning point in, higher education around, you know, striking down affirmative action, that it's, a good time to sort of talk about what had been perhaps as a means of helping people understand, so that we can move forward in a more intentional way.

Kirk [00:06:13] Is there anything specific in the decision that that jumps out?

Kira Tyler [00:06:17] For those who do not believe in affirmative action? Let me say this. It's easy for them to poke a hole in that. That is how you got in, right, Kira, that is how you got into Northwestern. Kira, that is how you got into Harvard. And it's like a literally no, this is a piece of the process. This is one of many factors, and I think that zeroing in on this as if this is it is incredibly harmful. And that is what is painful, right? Because people have said to me personally, it feels like it gives that oxygen. I know that that's not true. People in admissions know that that's not true. It's a factor. It's not the whole story under any circumstances.

Kirk [00:06:56] Terms and semantics are so important here. It's the difference between race based affirmative action and the consideration of an applicant's race in deciding who gets in.

Kira Tyler [00:07:06] That's right. Yes, Kirk, I agree with that.

Kirk [00:07:09] What does this mean for the students you're helping as a college coach?

Kira Tyler [00:07:13] Yeah, this is everybody's concern. This isn't I think some people think like there were some people that were like, I'm really sorry, Kiara. And it's like, what are you sorry me for? Like, because I'm a black person. Like, this is right. Everybody should be thinking about this, right?

Kirk [00:07:30] It affects all of us.

Kira Tyler [00:07:31] It affects everybody. Absolutely. But what I'm saying to my students is that you should proceed in the process as you were before. I don't want you to tamp down your existence, your identity, certainly not your race or your culture, if that's important to you. Anything that you would have said before is exactly what you should say now. And this is really, for better or for worse, the burden is so heavy on my colleagues who still work in college admissions. And I want to be clear, like I say, still work because many of them have either left or are contemplating it. It's too big of a burden to carry. But I'm telling my students, you should proceed as you were, and we will see how this will impact the process. I don't know, we have precedent about what has happened in other states. You know, where this has been struck down earlier, so I don't feel great about it. But all I can say to my students is that let's continue to make good choices about where you apply. Let's have a diverse list. Let's believe that you want to go to every school you applied to, and you should write your essays in a way that honors who you are.

Kirk [00:08:32] So stay the course. If you want to write about your race and ethnic identity, great, but don't feel obligated to.

Kira Tyler [00:08:40] I hope nobody ever felt obligated to write about it. But if it's an important piece of who you are and you've wanted to share it culture, gender identity, activity, whatever you should, you should still, proceed in that fashion.

Kirk [00:08:53] I understand you also have, mixed race daughter who's in middle school now. What do you think this new landscape will mean for her? Do you all talk about it?

Kira Tyler [00:09:04] Yes, Kirk. Of course. I can't help myself.

Kirk [00:09:10] It's a little upper middle school, kid.

Kira Tyler [00:09:12] It's a lot for a middle school kid. You haven't met my middle schooler. I will say straight away, she. If you met her, you would understand what I mean when I say that she's a real special kind of sprite. Yes. I mean, her whole life, truly, her entire life has been mom working to help children get into college. And so we don't talk about that all the time, but she's certainly, you know, been playing, next to me when she was little with toys, watching me or listening to me give a webinar or have a meeting with a student, talk to them about their physics rates, whatever. Right. So she is fully literate in what the next couple of years will mean for her. From the perspective of she is going to college, she loves school. She understands the value. She's excited for the opportunity in terms of her process. I say to her, we're just going to continue on and look at schools that you feel are a great fit for you, and mom will help you with that, or mom will help you find somebody who so that we don't butt heads you can talk to about that. I will be honest, though. You know, we have a trip to Atlanta in January planned. And, it's it's for she's an actress. It's for theater. And but I decided we're going to tack on a day to do some visits, and we're going to go visit Emily, and we're going to go visit Spelman, because I think it's really important. You know, I didn't go to an HBCU. My dad did. But the idea that, like that becomes more of a reality, I think within this climate, a place where my kid can authentically feel like she can be fully herself, right, however she wants to identify. We're excited about that.

Kirk [00:10:54] And you and your family isn't alone in that, right? We've seen a huge spike in the number of students considering applying and going to historically black colleges and universities.

Kira Tyler [00:11:03] That's right. And I, I personally feel a little bit guilty in that it shouldn't have taken this for people to realize how strong of institutions there are that offer that really unique and enriching experience. Right? Like, I am now being much more thoughtful about suggesting HBCUs to my students, just bringing it up. And they can decide what makes sense for them. I went to a conference in July, and one of the big takeaways was that like a reminder that, like, HBCUs are for everybody and they're like, we're going to proceed as we have and we will likely get more students, and we should because we're great institutions. And so I want to be more intentional about that. And that actually, for me, starts in my own family.

Kirk [00:11:52] So now that colleges can't legally and explicitly consider race in admissions. As a college coach, but more importantly, as a mom. What would you like to see them do to maintain and increase racial diversity on campus?

Kira Tyler [00:12:08] I would like to see them. Actually have their recruitment strategies reflect those those practices. Right. So that was one of the things that was talked about, right after the decision came out and, and even before as like potential strategies like we're going to we're going to visit places we haven't typically gone, we are going to, you know, think more carefully about zip code. I heard reference to name, and that struck me immediately as not the right way, to be doing it. Right. That's not data necessarily, but certainly, actually visiting schools, showing up at places you typically don't, partnering with organizations you typically don't. I appreciate that. I will say the students that I'm working with now, you know, I look at their high school schedules to see what schools are coming. And it's the same schools that have been coming, at these very selective, either highly selective enrollment public schools or some independent schools or some really powerhouse suburban schools. So I'm not sure that that's happening. It may be that it can't happen this year because travel was already planned. There's not enough time to shift course. But I really do think that the future lies in that, like shoe. It's like campaigning, right? Shoe leather actually going out and going to these schools that you don't go to, don't go to the selective enrollment schools in Chicago where I live. You know, instead, let's go to some more of those neighborhood schools where they don't even know what their opportunities are like. Why don't we help seed that instead.

Kirk [00:13:44] Where some students aren't even thinking about college until the beginning of their senior year? You know, best case scenario and the end of senior year. Worst case scenario. Yeah. But as you know, as you know, recruiting is expensive, right? And the schools with all the money have been doing this recruiting for years. And basically everybody else can't afford to necessarily do the kind of recruitment and outreach that you're describing.

Kira Tyler [00:14:07] You're not wrong. I mean, the time to pivot. They haven't really had enough time. And also the resources, right. Because it's like a very delicate balance to about. You do need to probably for some schools, not the wealthiest, but for some schools you have to recruit a certain number of kids, likely that can pay the whole freight. Right. And that may not exist within these new families that you want to, you know, inspire and recruit. So I recognize I'm speaking it like it's easy. I know that it's not. It also really involves buy in right from the top. Like this is a president, provost, board of trustees conversation that needs to have to happen. And I see this also recognizing that there are whole states for whom this is not a priority at all. So it's challenging.

Kirk [00:14:57] Kira Tyler is a college coach in Chicago. Kira, thank you so much for sharing your story and speaking with us.

Kira Tyler [00:15:05] Of course. Kirk, thanks for having me.

Kirk [00:15:16] This is College Uncovered from GBH. I'm Curt Carapaz.

Conor Halter [00:15:20] And I'm Conor Halter. While colleges are giving more financial aid to families that don't necessarily need it, the net price of college, the amount that families actually pay after discounts in financial aid, is rising faster for lower income students. I mean, can you believe that it's rising faster for them than their higher income classmates?

Kirk [00:15:40] Joining us now is Faisal Khan, a data reporter with our editorial partner of The Hechinger Report. He's been studying the data and spotted this pretty disturbing trend reporting on this educational and economic problem. Hi, Faisal. Hi. So you looked at admission prices for more than 1500 U.S. colleges. What did you discover?

Faisal Khan [00:15:59] We found that there were nearly 700 universities and colleges that, over the last decade, have raised the prices paid by the lowest income students more than the prices paid by their highest income students. And we're talking about the net price here, which is the amount students pay after discounts and financial aid. And if you look at the degree of that increase, too, it's much more for the lowest income students at two out of three colleges where the prices increased from both of these groups. The increase in price was on average 70% for the lowest income students, compared to 26% for the richest.

Kirk [00:16:33] And Faisal, your research finds at 17 colleges, the poor students actually paid more than the richest ones by as much as $5,000. That's at a time when so much of the focus on campus is on diversity and equity. So why is this happening now?

Faisal Khan [00:16:48] The most common reason for this trend is that colleges are competing for students from higher income families. That's because rich kids can afford to pay at least part of the tuition, which brings in revenue. But to get them, colleges have to give them scholarships. That takes financial aid away from students who meet the federal definition of financial need. Some some of the colleges also say they're trying to move money to help middle income families who also increasingly have trouble paying for college.

Kirk [00:17:15] Right. So the money is being shifted away from students who need it the most. And we should be clear here, most families are struggling to pay for college these days collectively. How much money are we talking about here?

Faisal Khan [00:17:26] According to a study. But we in 2001 and 2017, 339 public universities spent $32 billion in institutional aid on students who did not have a financial need. And overall, about four out of every $10 of all the institutional aid at these universities went to students whom the federal government deemed able to afford the college without it. We're talking about.

Kirk [00:17:50] Real dollars here, right, that that have real consequences. So what are the consequences of this disturbing trend that you're describing?

Faisal Khan [00:17:58] Yes, we are talking about with dollars. Simply put, money is going to students who may actually be able to afford college without the financial aid. And it's going away from students who may not be able to do that with that money and who may actually need that money. So if we if we were seeing an 80% increase in prices for the poorer students, it basically means if a student was paying $10,000 a year or ten years ago now they're now they're paying $18,000 for that same degree. So it's becoming more and more difficult to attend colleges for these low income students.

Kirk [00:18:38] Okay. Wow. So this definitely is a puzzle. One college you looked at was Beloit College in Wisconsin. Tell us, what did you find there?

Faisal Khan [00:18:46] So at Beloit College, we found that the net price, at this private school for the highest income students fell by 20%, while it rose for the lowest income students by more than 80%. So you're seeing a trend here where not just that prices are rising for both the income groups, which you would expect because then years later, inflation and everything, but you're also seeing instances where prices are actually getting lower for highest income students and increasing for the lowest income students, which is completely against what you would expect to be happening. It should be getting cheaper for low income students to attend colleges instead of getting more expensive for them.

Kirk [00:19:26] It's not alone, right? I mean, you have other examples where the same thing is happening.

Conor Halter [00:19:30] It's happening at several other colleges. For example, the Ned Price for the wealthiest students at Connecticut College rose by about 9%. But for the lowest income students, it went up 235%, which is a massive increase.

Kirk [00:19:44] How did the colleges respond to your reporting? Did you hear from them after you published?

Faisal Khan [00:19:48] Some of them said that there's only so much money to go around. So that's one of the main reasons that we heard from some of the colleges that got back to us, but a lot of them didn't respond.

Kirk [00:19:59] Faisal Khan is a data reporter with The Hechinger Report. Faisal, thank you so much for your reporting and for your time.

Faisal Khan [00:20:05] Thank you so much.

Kirk [00:20:08] This is College Uncovered from GBH and The Hechinger Report. I'm Curt Carapaz.

Conor Halter [00:20:14] And I'm Conor Halter. Our show is created by.

Kirk [00:20:16] Kirk and Jon Marcus, and it's edited by Meg Woolhouse.

Conor Halter [00:20:20] Gary Mont and David Goodman are mix engineers.

Kira Tyler [00:20:23] All of our music is by college bands. Our theme music is groundswell by Left Roman out of MIT.

Conor Halter [00:20:30] College and covered is made possible by Lumina Foundation.

Kirk [00:20:33] We would love to hear from you. Send us an email and tell us what you want to know about how colleges really operate. And if you're with a college or university. Tell us what you think the public should know about higher ed.

Conor Halter [00:20:46] Thanks so much for listening.