Access to four-year colleges that effectively serve low-income students is uneven across U.S., new study finds

(Press-News.org) Washington, August 26, 2025—A new study finds that four-year colleges and universities that both enroll and graduate low-income students at high rates—termed “Equity Engines” by the author—are unevenly distributed across the United States. Many states have no institutions that meet the criteria. The study was published today in AERA Open, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association.

Conducted by Becca Spindel Bassett, an assistant professor of higher education at the University of Arkansas, the study identifies just 91 Equity Engines out of 1,584 public and private nonprofit four-year institutions studied, or less than 6 percent nationwide. Twenty-four states have none.

Video: Author Becca Spindel Bassett discusses findings and implications of the study

To be classified as an Equity Engine by Bassett, a four-year college must serve at least 1,000 full-time undergraduates, at least 34 percent of its undergraduates must be eligible for Pell Grants (the national median), and at least 55 percent of those Pell students must graduate within six years—a rate that would halve the national socioeconomic graduation gap.

“I was surprised and disappointed at how few Equity Engines exist and how many states and entire regions have no universities that meet the criteria,” said Bassett. “Access to Equity Engines is uneven and unjust. This is a systemic failure, and one that states and the federal government have a responsibility to help fix.”

The study finds that states with both high youth poverty rates and low access to Equity Engines are largely concentrated in the South. In Arkansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, more than 16.7 percent of youth ages 12 to 17 live in poverty, yet none of these states has a single in-state four-year college that qualifies as an Equity Engine.

“Most students attend college close to home, and low-income students are especially place-bound,” said Bassett. “In many parts of the country, students growing up in poverty lack access to four-year colleges that will both admit them and support them to graduation. These students are less likely to earn a bachelor’s degree than low-income students living elsewhere.”  

Bassett’s analysis used institutional data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System from 2017-18 through 2021-22 alongside youth poverty data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for the same period.

Some states, including California, Florida, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, and Texas, stand out for both having high levels of need and relatively strong access to Equity Engines, often driven by large public universities. In California, for instance, 15.4 percent of youth live in poverty, but 43.5 percent of Pell college students are enrolled in one of California’s 21 Equity Engines—14 of which are members of the California State University and University of California systems. In contrast, in Louisiana, where 23.3 percent of youth live in poverty, just 2.7 percent of all Pell students attend an Equity Engine.

To address disparities, Bassett recommends that states and foundations invest in “Emerging Equity Engines”—four-year institutions that enroll at least a 34 percent share of Pell students and that are within five percentage points of meeting the graduation benchmark—as a strategic way to raise bachelor’s degree attainment.

“We all benefit when the advantages of higher education are distributed broadly and equitably,” said Bassett. “There is much to learn from colleges that not only open their doors widely to low-income students but also excel in supporting their success. These institutions are the true rockstars of our higher education system.”

Study citation: Bassett, B. S. (2025). Where there is no equity engine: Unequal geographies of college success for low-income students. AERA Open, 11(1). http://www.doi.org/10.1177/23328584251361048

###

About AERA
The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is the largest national interdisciplinary research association devoted to the scientific study of education and learning. Founded in 1916, AERA advances knowledge about education, encourages scholarly inquiry related to education, and promotes the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. Find AERA on  Bluesky, LinkedIn,  Facebook, Instagram,  X,  and Threads.

END