The gatekeepers here wanted to shed, once and for all, the reputation of a tradition-steeped university that caters mainly to the preppy and the privileged. So they recruited from far more high schools, tapped the endowment for more financial aid and took more steps to welcome newcomers from poor and working-class homes.
They even began checking family finances before deciding whom to admit. The point was not to exclude those in need but, possibly, to boost their chances.
The result: In little more than a dozen years, Princeton University tripled the share of freshmen who qualify for federal Pell Grants to 22 percent this fall. The grants, targeting students from low-to-moderate-income families with significant financial need, are a key indicator of economic diversity. The Ivy League school’s transformation reflects mounting pressure on top colleges, public and private, to provide more opportunity to communities where poverty is common and college degrees scarce.
Read more at The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/how-an-ivy-got-less-preppy-princeton-draws-surge-of-students-from-modest-means/2017/10/23/b66955b6-a770-11e7-850e-2bdd1236be5d_story.html