Monica Potts on closing the graduation gap for those attending less selective schools:
Elite colleges have the institutional support and the incentives to keep students enrolled, whatever their income level. In 2006, researchers at the Consortium on Chicago School Research followed Chicago public school graduates and found that students with a 3.5 grade point average who went to the least selective four-year colleges were half as likely to graduate as those who went to more selective colleges. For example, 37 percent of those who attended Chicago State University, a popular choice for grads, were likely to graduate in six years, while 72 percent of those with a 3.5 GPA who went to Loyola University graduated in the same amount of time. Research has already established that GPA is the best predictor of success in college, so, all things being equal, the graduation rates should have been the same.
