Michigan falls behind for low-income students

Ever wanted to know who makes up the 1%? Look around you.

A study published this week by The New York Times found that the University of Michigan has one of the highest percentages of wealthy students, with 66% of those enrolled in the top 20% income bracket. This places Michigan at number one for median family income when compared to other highly selective public colleges, at $154,000 per year. Its closest competitor in second place, Virginia Tech, had a median family income of $148,200 per year.

The study found that the average Michigan student has a family in the 80th percentile of income brackets, with 9.3% of students sitting in the top 1%, and a third of students making up the top 5% of incomes. To compare, only 3.6% of Michigan students come from the bottom 20% of incomes, one of the lowest rates for Michigan universities and among highly selective public colleges overall.

The study, which linked anonymous tax returns to attendance at universities by around 30 million students born between 1980 and 1991, found that Michigan has one of the lowest rates of economic diversity for public schools, alongside places like Colorado, Arizona, Texas and Wisconsin.

These rates are particularly shocking when looking at economic mobility. The share of Michigan students who moved up two or more income quintiles is just 10%, among the lowest for highly selective public colleges, as is the rate of students who moved from the bottom to the top quintile after attending Michigan, at 1.5%. However, it’s important to note that these numbers may be affected by the high rate of already wealthy students Michigan enrolls.

Over all, while Michigan has the highest rate of one-percenters in its category, it falls extremely short in enrolling lower-income students, ranking 23rd in its share of bottom-fifth income students, out of 27 highly selective public colleges, and last in study’s overall mobility index, suggesting that the school lags behind in accommodating low-income students.

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