The nation’s public flagship universities are becoming less accessible to students who are from low-income families or who are members of underrepresented minority groups, according to a report released on Monday by the Education Trust.
In its new report, “Engines of Inequality: Diminishing Equity in the Nation’s Premier Public Universities,” the trust, an independent research and advocacy organization based in Washington, grades the flagship institution in each state on access for low-income and minority students and on the gaps in graduation rates for those students and the student body as a whole.
Eight state universities received failing grades on the organization’s report card, while 24 states were given D’s, and 14 states were given C’s. Just four institutions — the Universities of Hawaii, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Vermont — earned B’s. No A’s were awarded.