Fewer Low-Income Students Applying to Pomona College
By Lori DesRochers
News Associate

The steering committee for Pomona’s Campus Diversity Initiative recently released a progress report of their research on campus climate and diversity at the College. The data, which came from a variety of sources within the Office of Institutional Research, indicates that fewer students in the lowest income brackets are applying to Pomona, while the trend is the opposite with higher income brackets.

Dean of Students Ann Quinley felt that income was a factor that the College has only recently begun to notice. Last spring, a task force was created to help generate a plan of action for addressing the difficulties of being a low-income student at Pomona College. “All of the sudden we realized that we didn’t have as many students in the low income range. We don’t like that and we want that to change,” she said.

When asked to comment on these statistics, Dean of Admissions Bruce Poch declined. “Since the report is not final and is a working draft for purposes of discussion within the Committee, I have no comment except that the assumption upon which you have based your questions is very incomplete.”

The survey also showed that students of lower income tend to be the least satisfied with their education overall when rating areas such as sense of community, social life, and cultural offerings.

“I think that there are a lot of things that make it harder for students who are less well off,” said Quinley. As an example, she suggested that a $50 ticket to go see the musical production of The Producers with an a freshman critical inquiry class might be acceptable to most students, but that it could be a large financial burden to a student on financial aid. Likewise, studying abroad might also be difficult to students for whom it would mean giving up a work study allotment in exchange for loans.

“I think Pomona is definitely a difficult place for students of low income because it seems like the majority of Pomona students are privileged in some way, which affects their life experiences, opinions, and mindsets, which are based on various factors such as their childhood, family life, and the type of education they received,” said Vivian Pacheco ’06. The prevalence of this level of affluence within the community can then affect the kind of students who apply to Pomona, or who are even given the opportunity to apply to Pomona.

Not only have there been fewer students of lower income applying to Pomona College, but the study indicates a particular downward trend of applicants who are low income students of Asian descent.

“It's much harder to become involved and thus to be able to compete on paper if you're not as well-off, not because of any intrinsic inferiority, but because society is structured to give resources, awards, the best education, and the best opportunities to succeed and to be noticed to those who are already wealthy,” said Erica Lai ‘05, a head mentor for the Asian American Mentoring Program. “It may also be that students who are of low socioeconomic class, when applying and even when accepted, do not want to come to a private college, fearing the elitism that must be a part of the culture. To be sure, it is intimidating and at times stifling to be at a place such as Pomona College, which despite its liberalism and constant efforts to try to be inclusive, is still predominantly a college for upper-middle class students.”

Quinley suggests that there are a lot of ways that low income students are helped by the college that simply aren’t well publicized, such as the fact that students on financial aid can get health insurance from the College. Students also have some ideas for ways to change the environment on campus.

“Admissions seems to always be the target to solve these types of problems, but conscience-raising forums or speakers or events can be possible ways to change the experience for students already on campus,” suggests Pacheco.