Bridget Terry LongHarvard Graduate School of Education and NBER

Legacy of the War on Poverty: A 50 year RetrospectiveConference ~ June 12, 2012

Supporting Access to Higher Education

The College Preparation and Financial Assistance Programs of the War on

Poverty

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Economic Opportunity Act of 1964• Bill introduces Federal Work Study • Provides broadly for General Community

Action Programs of which Upward Bound is an example

Higher Education Act of 1965• Introduces the Educational Opportunity

Grant, which precedes the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant (later renamed the Pell Grant)

• Also introduces Guaranteed Student Loans • Expanded the National Defense Student Loans• Amended the Federal Work Study program

Defining the War: The Programs

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Median School Years Completed, 1960 (persons age 25 and older)

Before the War on Poverty:Higher Education in the Early

1960s

Years of School Completed, 1960 (persons age 25 and older)

White Non-WhiteAll 10.9 8.2

Male 10.7 7.9Female 11.2 8.5

  White BlackCompleted 4 or More Years: HS 43% 20%Completed 4 or More Years: College 8% 3%

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(1) Establishing the significant Federal role Previous Federal Actions

1947 Truman Commission – suggested expansion National Defense Education Act of 1958 – limited

Foundation of substantial and far-reaching support

Concerns about overstepping bounds states and institutions as partners

Huge increase in spending 1963-64: Total federal aid was only $1.6 billion in

2010 (mostly due to aid to veterans) By 1970-71, federal expenditures reached over $18

billion (2010 dollars)

Putting the War on Poverty in Perspective

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(2) The Movement towards Mass Higher Education Underscored the Needs of Students as access to

higher education was increasing Gaps in attendance by income and race Liquidity Constraints Need for government-

backed loans Johnson: “The important role of the federal government is

somehow to do something for the people who are down and out, and that’s where its major energy in education ought to go.”

Focused on the individual student First generally-available aid programs (not just

veterans, special fields, or the gifted)

Putting the War on Poverty in Perspective

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(3) Establishing the American Landscape of Aid The Role of Federal Grants

Educational Opportunity Grant (EOG) Basic Educational Opportunity Grant (BEOG) = Pell

Grant

The Increasing Role of Loans Guaranteed Student Loans = Stafford Loan

Program (federally-guaranteed, private loans) National Defense Student Loan Program = Perkins

Loans (direct loans)

Federal Work Study Scott-Clayton (2012): student employment nearly

doubled from 1970 to 2000 Only about 1 in 5 receives support from Work Study

Putting the War on Poverty in Perspective

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(4) Aid is not enough: The Important Roles of preparation and information The increasingly complex educational pathway Gaps in preparation and information by income

and race TRIO Programs

1964: Upward Bound 1965: Talent Search 1968: Student Support Services

Assist 1st-generation and other disadvantaged youth to prepare for and attend college

Services: tutoring, mentoring, information or college opportunities, and assistance completing applications

Putting the War on Poverty in Perspective

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Have the Grant Programs Worked? Delivery matters: Through institutions (originally)

or standardized through the federal government Design matters – simplicity Subject to annual appropriations

Other Financial aid Effects of loans on college access, choice, and

success? Longer-term repercussions of loans? Effects of work study?

Beyond Financial Aid Difficult to research Mathematica studies: generally positive but difficult

to discern which components are helpful

Lessons from the War on Poverty: Higher Education

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Fifty years later, the effects of the War on Poverty are still very much evident in the higher education system

Despite substantial increases in access to higher education during the last several decades, postsecondary attendance continues to be stratified by family income and race

Questions about how to improve grants along with concerns about the complicated effects of loans

Information and academic preparation also remain important barriers

Role of schools, colleges, and universities should also not be underestimated, but more research is needed to understand how these institutions interact with aid policy

The Legacy: Higher Education