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"For every 100 students from low-income families that start college, fewer than 8 will graduate and secure jobs. So, if our goal is to enable these young people to take charge of their futures, we need to move the finish line: college graduation is not the final destination--launching a career is."

"Rowan University has been named the second best college in the nation for social mobility according to the Social Mobility Index, a joint project from CollegeNET and PayScale. The index takes information on the tuition and economic background of the student body and then compares them to graduation rate and median early career salary to find the colleges offering the best investment for low-income students. Glassboro-based Rowan came in just behind Montana Tech of the University of Montana."

"Cristo Rey Columbus High School isn't like other schools. As part of the 28 schools forming the Cristo Rey network (founded in 1995 in Chicago by Jesuit priest John P. Foley), this Columbus, Ohio private school takes underprivileged kids and gives them the opportunity to learn and work professionally for free."

"According to a new Legislative Finance Committee report, poverty is no excuse when it comes to a child's ability to learn. But to succeed, leaders of high-poverty schools must effectively funnel financial resources into areas that need support, coordinate those services, help teachers and monitor student progress."

"If you want to address income inequality, fix higher education. That seems to be the current thinking in Washington, where President Obama has urged college administrators to better serve low-income students. Some colleges have been following that guidance. The University of Chicago has been praised for its new campaign to recruit low-income students a strategy that reduces the financial paperwork in the admissions process and guarantees low- and middle-income students summer employment while no longer expecting them to work during the academic year."

"New Mexico's high-poverty schools are in dire need of hiring more teachers, according to a new legislative study. A Legislative Finance Committee report released Thursday said a "new approach" that includes better incentives and hiring decisions is crucial to get more effective teachers, the Albuquerque Journal reported. The study looked at education strategies in 15 schools around the state that are considered low-income and academically behind."

"The $32 billion Pell Grant program is the U.S. government's main financial aid for low-income students, benefiting more than one in three undergraduates, or about 10 million total nationwide. Recipients can get up to $5,730 a year. Other area schools with high numbers of Pell-eligible and thus low-income students included Cedar Crest College (43 percent) in Allentown, Penn State Lehigh Valley (36 percent) in Center Valley and Moravian College (30 percent) in Bethlehem, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, a division of the U.S. Department of Education."

"Poverty makes it harder for children to succeed in school. And every day, tens of thousands of D.C. schoolchildren walk into a classroom with a heavy weight on their shoulders. That's because children in poverty are more likely to be hungry or malnourished, exposed to trauma, stress or violence, affected by family or neighborhood turmoil or faced with severe health problems."

"A new nationwide survey of parents shows the District has the highest afterschool participation rate in the United States. On the other hand, DC is 49th in the percentage of low-income children enrolled."

"Low-income children now outnumber middle-class students in Illinois public schools. More than a million kids qualified for free or reduced price lunch last year."

"The Children's Scholarship Fund Philadelphia announced Thursday that 2,000 new, four-year scholarships were available to help low-income city families send their children to nonpublic schools for kindergarten through eighth grade. The scholarships begin with the 2015-16 academic year. Established in 1998, Children's Scholarship Fund Philadelphia now provides financial aid to 4,500 city children at 185 nonpublic schools."

"A new study found state budget cuts to public universities nationwide have deterred many low- and middle-income students from attending college. The Center for American Progress found that 38 states cut the amount of spending per student during the fiscal period of 2008 to 2012, said Elizabeth Baylor, associate director of postsecondary education at the center. The two- and four-year college attendance rate of low-income students dropped from 55.9 percent in 2008 to 50.9 percent in 2012. The state has cut universities' funds by about 5 percent, according to the study."