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Without Affirmative Action, Elite Colleges are Prioritizing Economic Diversity in Admissions

December 18, 2025

Several elite American universities are enrolling unprecedented numbers of low-income students, measured by eligibility for federal Pell grants, as they shift their diversity strategies following the Supreme Court's ban on race-based affirmative action. Schools like Princeton, MIT, Yale, and Duke have achieved record enrollments of economically disadvantaged students through intentional recruiting in underserved areas and offering free or reduced tuition for families below certain income thresholds. However, this approach faces potential conflict with the Trump administration, which claims that targeting students based on income or geography violates the affirmative action ban by serving as a "racial proxy.

Who is affected

  • Low-income students eligible for federal Pell grants
  • Students from families earning less than $200,000 annually (at MIT)
  • Students in the bottom 80% of U.S. earnings (at Amherst College)
  • Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous American students
  • Students from urban and rural areas previously overlooked in recruitment
  • Elite universities including Princeton, Yale, Duke, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Amherst College, and Swarthmore College
  • The Trump administration
  • University of California-Los Angeles
  • The College Board
  • Children of alumni and donors (whose admissions priority has been reduced at some schools)

What action is being taken

  • Universities are recruiting more students in urban and rural areas
  • Schools are offering free tuition for students whose families are not among the highest earners
  • MIT is providing free tuition for families earning less than $200,000 annually
  • Amherst College is covering meals and housing for students below median income
  • Admissions offices are conducting recruiting in less affluent areas rather than "the fanciest ZIP codes"
  • Swarthmore College is using alternative data to determine financial need and offering scholarships earlier
  • The Trump administration is pulling funding from elite colleges
  • Trump officials are sending letters accusing universities like UCLA of race-based admissions practices
  • The College Board is discontinuing demographic information offerings to admissions offices

Why it matters

  • This represents a significant shift in how America's most selective colleges approach diversity and access to elite education. Economic diversity is important because America's leadership class disproportionately comes from selective colleges, and including people who have faced economic hardships ensures broader representation in positions of power and influence. The trend also affects whether students from disadvantaged backgrounds can access the opportunities and networks that elite universities provide. The legal conflict with the Trump administration could determine whether universities can continue using economic factors in admissions decisions, potentially reshaping college access for future generations. Additionally, the results demonstrate that economic diversity and racial diversity are not equivalent—low-income enrollment can increase while racial diversity decreases—highlighting the complexity of achieving truly representative student bodies in a race-neutral admissions environment.

What's next

  • No explicit next steps stated in the article

Read full article from source: The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint

Without Affirmative Action, Elite Colleges are Prioritizing Economic Diversity in Admissions