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"48 million children across the United States live in low-income or poor families. And, for many of those children, higher education may seem like an impossible dream."

"President Obama this weekend is stressing the importance of education and government investments in education in keeping American students competitive in an era of ever-expanding globalization."

"Research has long shown that students from low-income families tend to lag behind their wealthier peers on standardized test performance and other measures of academic success. Now, a study led by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard finds a correlate to this 'income-achievement' gap within kids' brain structures."

"More than 400 Texas schools were recognized for improvements at campuses where at least 40 percent of the students are considered low income. The Texas Education Agency on Thursday identified this year's high-performing and/or high-progress Title I reward schools."

"Publicly funded preschools across the country are largely segregated by race and income, and poor children are typically enrolled in the lowest quality programs, according to a new report released Wednesday by researchers at the National Center for Children and Families at Teachers College, Columbia University."

"Virginia Senator Mark Warner and Senator Rob Portman of Ohio have proposed legislation to help low-income students earn college credits while they are still in high school."

"He is part of a growing number of low-income students who are able to attend elite schools, as universities seek out more socioeconomically diverse students and offer more aid to lower-income families. But once students make it through the ivy gates, they find they are still not completely accepted."

"According to the College Board, which runs the AP program, in 2013 about 15 percent of graduating seniors in the U.S. were black. But, black students made up only about 9 percent of AP test takers. That same year the latest for which reliable comparisons are available low-income students made up 48 percent of the high school population, but only about 28 percent of AP test takers."

"Unfortunately, the vast majority of high-achieving, low-income students do not apply to selective colleges or universities. The average enrollment of low-income students at the more selective four-year colleges is only in the 10 to 15 percent range. Well-qualified low-income students who are discouraged from applying to selective colleges and who enroll in less selective schools are at a disadvantage. Less competitive schools generally offer less generous financial packages, fewer support services and less challenging courses of study."

"Inequality has been increasing in multiple ways. But one little-appreciated form is the inequality of retirement time. That's the number of years between retirement and death. It's not surprising that divergent retirement time should reflect other forms of growing inequality. The poor have lower earnings and often work longer out of necessity, not choice. They are less likely to have decent pensions or private savings. On average, they suffer poorer health and tend to die younger. On all counts, the affluent get to enjoy more years of retirement in relative comfort."

"Those are just some of the unique learning opportunities students at the high-poverty school are getting this year as part of an extended-day program. The school district, in partnership with the nonprofit Charleston Promise Neighborhood, piloted an extended school day at Sanders Clyde this school year, with students staying an extra 2 hours a day."

"Jasmine Miller, who grew up in Tennessee and graduated from Harvard in 2013, has some illustrative anecdotes to explain how low-income students at elite colleges get subtle and not-so-subtle reminders that they aren't like their classmates. An Ivy League economics professor, for example, might try to elicit a discussion by asking, 'How many of you were raised by nannies?' And a low-income student is bound to get a party icebreaker like 'Where's your favorite place to go abroad?'"