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A report released by the Education Policy Program of the New America Foundation recently on how Pell is being undermined by colleges that seek only wealthy students and neglect the low income students.

There is no disputing the fact that the neediest students are always left behind by most of the private colleges that fail to use available financial resources to help make college affordable and accessible to them.

As compared to the private colleges, most of the public four-year colleges cater to low income students and charge them affordable fees. The above mentioned report put forth certain alarming data that has to be looked into at the earliest.

Public universities today are becoming like the private institutions as higher education system in states is becoming more divested in states. Whether private or public, all universities and colleges are using institutional aid to rope in the brightest students which in turn helps them increase their revenue.

The pathway to working class and low-income students from the middle class is fast shutting down even as more numbers of public higher education systems are going private. At least 34 percent of public four-year colleges charge students $10,000 and 5 percent of them charge at least $15,000.

One of the universities that have embraced competition with a lot of enthusiasm is the University of Alabama. The arms race for institutional financial aid is heating up with a number of active participants including the 164 public institutions.

Rather than targeting students who are high achievers, this university focuses on full pay students and has been trying its best to rope in students who can afford to pay. The target is on wealthy students and it appears that their efforts are bearing fruit. $9000 in merit scholarships are offered to 30 percent freshmen in the University of Alabama.

This school has climbed in rankings and is now ranked 77 among national universities after being in the second tier category in the nineties. The school is also ranked 32 among public universities.
The downside is that so much money is being spent on identifying and recruiting intelligent and wealthy students that there is nothing left for the needy ones.

Prestige and rankings are the top priorities for all private colleges and public colleges like the University of Alabama. Chasing the top students is the order of the day and almost all colleges now indulge in this practice.

Especially with the massive state budget cuts, strategic enrolment techniques are used by schools to enhance revenue apart from maintaining prestige. Another university spending all their resources in identifying wealthy and brilliant students is the Reno based University of Nevada. This university focuses on students who have a greater chance of graduating.

For many universities, this is the only way they can make more money, appoint better staff and rope in quality faculty and in the bargain enhance graduation rates. A new process for awarding scholarship has been put in place by this university to rope in affluent students and remain competitive.