Bowen calls for focus on socioeconomic diversity

American excellence in higher education will falter unless universities provide better opportunities to students from disadvantaged backgrounds, former University president William Bowen GS '58 argues in his latest book.

The book, titled "Equity and Excellence in American Education," was released last week.

"If you want the [United States] to be competitive in the future, you have to do something now," Bowen said in an interview.

Bowen, who currently serves as president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, calculates that a high school student from the top income quartile is six times as likely to make it into the pool of "credible" college applicants as one from the bottom quartile.

Moreover, Bowen finds that an applicant with at least one college-educated parent is seven times more likely to be "credible" than an applicant with no parents who attended college.

The study of socioeconomic inequality in college admissions was a natural extension of his work on racial inequality and diversity, Bowen said. He coauthored "The Shape of the River," which defended the use of race-conscious admissions policies, with former Harvard president Derek Bok in 2000.

"[Socioeconomic inequality] is a subject that I've been interested in for a long, long time — since the 1970s," Bowen said.

The study was conducted with the assistance of 19 major universities in the United States, including Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Penn State.

In "Equity and Excellence," Bowen says the disadvantages faced by low-income students in the admissions process discourage many who are academically excellent from applying.

Bowen notes that admissions give no preference to low-income students who make it into the applicant pool against the odds.

"Once they get into the pool, they have the same chances to get in," Bowen said. "Is this the way the world really ought to look?"

"The Shape of the River" argued that students of all races would suffer from a lack of racial and ethnic diversity on campuses. Now, Bowen says that socioeconomic diversity has important benefits as well.

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Even so, "Equity and Excellence" does not recommend replacing race-conscious admissions policies with income-based ones.

"When we simulated such a change, we found that the share of students from underrepresented minority groups fell by nearly half," Bowen wrote in an article for The Chronicle of Higher Education on Feb. 25.

The racial issue is complicated by the fact that the vast majority of disadvantaged applicants are white — a fact Bowen said he didn't find surprising.

In the Chronicle of Higher Education piece, Bowen said African-Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans are currently overrepresented in the pool of disadvantaged applicants.

As a short-term policy, Bowen recommends that all universities with the resources to do so "put a thumb on the scale" in favor of students applying from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The studies showed that disadvantaged students who make it into elite universities perform just as well as, or even slightly better than, their peers from more advantaged backgrounds.

"The disadvantaged students who do make it that far have already shown that they are already capable of overcoming obstacles, so it's hardly surprising that they do so well," Bowen said.

To help make room for low-income students, Bowen suggests giving less preference to applicants who make use of the Early Decision program.

He also recommends reducing the admissions advantage of recruited athletes.

"It becomes an arms race," said Bowen, who was an avid tennis player during his undergraduate years. "Universities are putting pressure on each other to spend more on athletic recruitment."

In the long run, Bowen hopes social work will help to equalize educational opportunities across socioeconomic groups. He plans to monitor the progress made by universities over the next several years.

Bowen received his Ph.D. from the University in 1958 and served as president from 1972 to 1988. He has authored several books on the subject of higher education since then.

As president of the Mellon Foundation, he oversees grant programs in higher education, art conservation and public affairs.

"I think the Mellon Foundation will continue to be interested in this [issue of socioeconomic inequality] in the future," Bowen said. "I know I will."

For the time being, however, he is taking a short reprieve and planning future projects.

"I'm mulling over three or four research ideas that I need to discuss with my colleagues," Bowen said. "I'm thinking about looking at the state of our nation's public universities."