Engines of Inequality

We call these institutions “engines of inequality” because very few students come from working-class and low-income families. Roughly 95 percent of other four-year institutions enroll more first-time, full-time undergraduates who receive Pell Grants, a type of federal financial aid for low-income students. Fewer than 16 percent of students receive Pell Grants at these 113 institutions (based on data from 2012-13).

These institutions are mostly selective, wealthy, and private nonprofit universities (93 institutions), but there are a handful public institutions as well (20 institutions).

Institutions appear on this year’s list if they:

  • met the criteria to be included in the College Results Online database,
  • had at least 30 first-time, full-time students in the fall 2012 financial aid cohort, and
  • enrolled fewer than 16 percent of Pell Grant recipients in 2012-13.

More information on these institutions can be found at College Results Online.

Select the points on the map above to see data on enrollment of Pell Grant recipients, or scroll down for a list of schools by state.

Alabama

Auburn University (public): 13%

Samford University (private, nonprofit): 14%

Alaska

None

Arizona

None

Arkansas

None

California

California Institute of Technology (private, nonprofit): 10.2%

California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo (public): 14.4%

Claremont McKenna College (private, nonprofit): 11.3%

Harvey Mudd College (private, nonprofit): 15.7%

King’s University (private, nonprofit): 11.4%

Santa Clara University (private, nonprofit): 11.9%

Scripps College (private, nonprofit): 12.3%

Stanford University (private, nonprofit): 14.1%

Pitzer College (private, nonprofit): 14.2%

Colorado

Colorado College (private, nonprofit): 10.2%

Colorado School of Mines (public): 15.6%

Connecticut

Connecticut College (private, nonprofit): 11.7%

Fairfield University (private, nonprofit): 12.9%

Quinnipiac University (private, nonprofit): 15.5%

Trinity College (private, nonprofit): 10.2%

Yale University (private, nonprofit): 12.7%

Delaware

University of Delaware (public): 14%

District of Columbia

Catholic University of America (private, nonprofit): 11.5%

George Washington University (private, nonprofit): 12%

Georgetown University (private, nonprofit): 14%

 

 

Florida

None

Georgia

Georgia Institute of Technology–Main Campus (public): 14.4.%

Hawaii

None

Idaho

None

Illinois

Northwestern University (private, nonprofit): 14%

University of Chicago (private, nonprofit): 11.7%

Indiana

University of Notre Dame (private, nonprofit): 10.8%

Iowa

None

Kansas

None

Kentucky

Centre College (private, nonprofit): 15.4%

Louisiana

Tulane University of Louisiana (private, nonprofit): 10.1%

Maine

Bates College (private, nonprofit): 8%

Bowdoin College (private, nonprofit): 13.8%

Colby College (private, nonprofit): 12.2%

Maryland

Johns Hopkins University (private, nonprofit): 15.5%

Loyola University Maryland (private, nonprofit): 15.4%

St. Mary’s College of Maryland (public): 12.2%

University of Maryland–College Park (public): 14.6%

Washington College (private, nonprofit): 14.6%

Massachusetts

Boston College (private, nonprofit): 14.5%

Boston University (private, nonprofit): 15%

College of the Holy Cross (private, nonprofit): 15.3%

Emerson College (private, nonprofit): 15%

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering (private, nonprofit): 8.6%

Hampshire College (private, nonprofit): 14.9%

Harvard University (private, nonprofit): 15%

Mount Holyoke College (private, nonprofit): 12.7%

Northeastern University (private, nonprofit): 15.5%

Tufts University (private, nonprofit): 10.1%

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (private, nonprofit): 14.4%

 

 

Michigan

University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (public): 14.3%

Minnesota

Carleton College (private, nonprofit): 11.4%

St. Olaf College (private, nonprofit): 14.8%

Missouri

Washington University in St. Louis (private, nonprofit): 5.2%

Montana

None

Nebraska

None

Nevada

None

New Hampshire

Dartmouth College (private, nonprofit): 12.2%

Saint Anselm College (private, nonprofit): 14.2%

New Jersey

Princeton University (private, nonprofit): 13.7%

New Mexico

None

New York

Colgate University (private, nonprofit): 12%

Columbia University in the City of New York (private, nonprofit): 15.1%

Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (private, nonprofit): 14.8%

Cornell University (private, nonprofit): 14.7%

Jewish Theological Seminary of America (private, nonprofit): 0%

The Julliard School (private, nonprofit): 15.7%

Manhattan School of Music (private, nonprofit): 14.3%

Marist College (private, nonprofit): 13.7%

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (private, nonprofit): 15.3%

Sarah Lawrence College (private, nonprofit): 14%

Skidmore College (private, nonprofit): 13.5%

Union College (private, nonprofit): 13.7%

United States Merchant Marine Academy (public): 10.2%

 

North Carolina

Davidson College (private, nonprofit): 12.7%

Duke University (private, nonprofit): 13.7%

Elon University (private, nonprofit): 7.4%

High Point University (private, nonprofit): 10.9%

 

Ohio

Kenyon College (private, nonprofit): 10.3%

Miami University–Oxford (public): 13%

Oberlin College (private, nonprofit): 9.8%

University of Dayton (private, nonprofit): 12.2%

 

Oklahoma

University of Tulsa (private, nonprofit): 13.2%

Oregon

None

Pennsylvania

Bryn Mawr College (private, nonprofit): 15.6%

Bucknell University (private, nonprofit): 10.7%

Carnegie Mellon University (private, nonprofit): 13.4%

Curtis Institute of Music (private, nonprofit): 10%

Dickinson College (private, nonprofit): 11.2%

Gettysburg College (private, nonprofit): 14.3%

Lafayette College (private, nonprofit): 9.2%

Muhlenberg College (private, nonprofit): 9.3%

Pennsylvania State University–Main Campus (public): 14.3%

Saint Joseph’s University (private, nonprofit): 11.2%

Swarthmore College (private, nonprofit): 13.5%

University of Pennsylvania (private, nonprofit): 15%

University of Pittsburgh–Pittsburgh Campus (public): 15.6%

Villanova University (private, nonprofit): 14.1%

Rhode Island

Bryant University (private, nonprofit): 15.5%

Providence College (private, nonprofit): 14.9%

Rhode Island School of Design (private, nonprofit): 15.9%

Roger Williams University (private, nonprofit): 12.9%

South Carolina

Furman University (private, nonprofit): 13.8%

Tennessee

Belmont University (private, nonprofit): 14.8%

Rhodes College (private, nonprofit): 14.8%

Vanderbilt University (private, nonprofit): 13.3%

 

Texas

Southern Methodist University (private, nonprofit): 12.8%

Texas Christian University (private, nonprofit): 10.4%

Utah

None

Vermont

Middlebury College (private, nonprofit): 12.2%

Virginia

 

Christopher Newport University (public): 15%

College of William and Mary (public): 11.1%

James Madison University (public): 12.5%

University of Mary Washington (public): 14.4%

University of Richmond (private, nonprofit): 15.6%

University of Virginia–Main Campus (public): 10.9%

Virginia Military Institute (public): 12.8%

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (public): 14.9%

Washington and Lee University (private, nonprofit): 10.2%

 

Washington

Gonzaga University (private, nonprofit): 15.3%

Whitman College (private, nonprofit): 9.5%

Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin–Madison (public): 13.3%