Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Welcomes Education Department Report On Increasing Number Of Low-Income Students In College

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Mar 24, 2016, 10:48 ET

LANSDOWNE, Va., March 24, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Executive Director Harold O. Levy today welcomed a new U.S. Education Department report that calls for actions to increase enrollment of low-income students in colleges and universities, and recognizes colleges that have already taken such steps. The report is titled: "Fulfilling the Promise, Serving the Need: Advancing College Opportunity for Low-Income Students."

"The Department of Education has taken an important step by drawing attention to the need to lower barriers to college admission for academically qualified low-income students," Levy said. "Doing this will benefit not just the students themselves, but our nation as a whole. If ever there was a bipartisan issue, this is it."

"Some of the smartest young people in America, with the greatest potential, come from families struggling to make ends meet," Levy said. "If they are given equal educational opportunities many of these students will use their talents and their brainpower to build a better future for our nation."

A recent Cooke Foundation report documents that at the most selective colleges, barely 3 percent of students come from poor and working-class families, while 72 percent are from wealthy families.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need. It offers the largest scholarships in the U.S., comprehensive counseling and other support services to students from 8th grade to graduate school. Since 2000 it has awarded about $147 million in scholarships to more than 2,000 students and $90 million in grants to organizations that serve high achieving, low-income students. www.jkcf.org

Media Contact: David Egner
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SOURCE Jack Kent Cooke Foundation