Bridget Terry Long Harvard Graduate School of Education and NBER Legacy of the War on Poverty: A 50...
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Transcript of Bridget Terry Long Harvard Graduate School of Education and NBER Legacy of the War on Poverty: A 50...
Bridget Terry LongHarvard Graduate School of Education and NBER
Legacy of the War on Poverty: A 50 year RetrospectiveConference ~ June 12, 2012
Supporting Access to Higher Education
The College Preparation and Financial Assistance Programs of the War on
Poverty
2
Economic Opportunity Act of 1964• Bill introduces Federal Work Study • Provides broadly for General Community
Action Programs of which Upward Bound is an example
Higher Education Act of 1965• Introduces the Educational Opportunity
Grant, which precedes the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant (later renamed the Pell Grant)
• Also introduces Guaranteed Student Loans • Expanded the National Defense Student Loans• Amended the Federal Work Study program
Defining the War: The Programs
3
Median School Years Completed, 1960 (persons age 25 and older)
Before the War on Poverty:Higher Education in the Early
1960s
Years of School Completed, 1960 (persons age 25 and older)
White Non-WhiteAll 10.9 8.2
Male 10.7 7.9Female 11.2 8.5
White BlackCompleted 4 or More Years: HS 43% 20%Completed 4 or More Years: College 8% 3%
4
(1) Establishing the significant Federal role Previous Federal Actions
1947 Truman Commission – suggested expansion National Defense Education Act of 1958 – limited
Foundation of substantial and far-reaching support
Concerns about overstepping bounds states and institutions as partners
Huge increase in spending 1963-64: Total federal aid was only $1.6 billion in
2010 (mostly due to aid to veterans) By 1970-71, federal expenditures reached over $18
billion (2010 dollars)
Putting the War on Poverty in Perspective
6
(2) The Movement towards Mass Higher Education Underscored the Needs of Students as access to
higher education was increasing Gaps in attendance by income and race Liquidity Constraints Need for government-
backed loans Johnson: “The important role of the federal government is
somehow to do something for the people who are down and out, and that’s where its major energy in education ought to go.”
Focused on the individual student First generally-available aid programs (not just
veterans, special fields, or the gifted)
Putting the War on Poverty in Perspective
7
(3) Establishing the American Landscape of Aid The Role of Federal Grants
Educational Opportunity Grant (EOG) Basic Educational Opportunity Grant (BEOG) = Pell
Grant
The Increasing Role of Loans Guaranteed Student Loans = Stafford Loan
Program (federally-guaranteed, private loans) National Defense Student Loan Program = Perkins
Loans (direct loans)
Federal Work Study Scott-Clayton (2012): student employment nearly
doubled from 1970 to 2000 Only about 1 in 5 receives support from Work Study
Putting the War on Poverty in Perspective
9
(4) Aid is not enough: The Important Roles of preparation and information The increasingly complex educational pathway Gaps in preparation and information by income
and race TRIO Programs
1964: Upward Bound 1965: Talent Search 1968: Student Support Services
Assist 1st-generation and other disadvantaged youth to prepare for and attend college
Services: tutoring, mentoring, information or college opportunities, and assistance completing applications
Putting the War on Poverty in Perspective
12
Have the Grant Programs Worked? Delivery matters: Through institutions (originally)
or standardized through the federal government Design matters – simplicity Subject to annual appropriations
Other Financial aid Effects of loans on college access, choice, and
success? Longer-term repercussions of loans? Effects of work study?
Beyond Financial Aid Difficult to research Mathematica studies: generally positive but difficult
to discern which components are helpful
Lessons from the War on Poverty: Higher Education
13
Fifty years later, the effects of the War on Poverty are still very much evident in the higher education system
Despite substantial increases in access to higher education during the last several decades, postsecondary attendance continues to be stratified by family income and race
Questions about how to improve grants along with concerns about the complicated effects of loans
Information and academic preparation also remain important barriers
Role of schools, colleges, and universities should also not be underestimated, but more research is needed to understand how these institutions interact with aid policy
The Legacy: Higher Education