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"In March, a grand survey of thousands of teenagers found that most low-income, high-achieving students don't even bother to apply to top colleges and universities. The boys and girls in the study came from families making less than $41,000 a year, had A-minus or above grade averages through high school and scored in the top 10 percent on college entrance exams."

"Having teachers who understand what it is like to live in poverty is really helpful when you've got a bunch of kids living in intense poverty,' he said. We want staff who can identify with our kids, staff our kids can identity with.'"

"While the expansion is welcome, the phase-in period is too long. Thousands of 4-year-olds in poverty will miss out on the benefits of early training. Advocates note that this training exposes 4-year-olds living in poverty to language and motor skills they are not likely to learn in their own homes. Without that training, they start out behind their peers in kindergarten, and catching up can be difficult."

"A study released this week says colleges' pricing and aid policies are endangering the advancement of low-income and working-class students into the middle class. And once again, Pennsylvania public campuses found themselves on the high side of prices."

"Here in Massachusetts, Endicott College's Keys to Degrees program which has an 80 percent employment rate among graduates and has spawned almost a dozen similar programs at colleges around the nation holds real promise to help mothers and their children achieve their dreams together. It's the right thing and the smart thing to do."

"Why don't poor kids apply to top schools? The study and the documentary suggest several reasons: The students aren't urged to do so by their families or their college counselors. They are unlikely to know graduates of such schools, even among the staffs at their high schools. The colleges aren't actively or effectively recruiting these kids who fly under the radar."

"Although 4-year-old kindergarten is not appropriate for every child, it can be extremely beneficial to low-income children who often live in difficult circumstances. Poverty creates multiple obstacles to children's school readiness. Parents in low-income homes may not be as invested in a child's success; often low-income children are brought up in single-parent homes and in many scenarios the one parent is working a full-time job that keeps him or her away from their child for significant parts of every day."

"Billions of dollars and the education of millions of low-income students are on the line for generations to come. The goal of both is the same: deploy revenues in a manner that targets the most needy students who are lagging behind in test scores and are at greater risk of dropping out."

"The change in student classification, at least for now, would affect only how results are reported on a key series of national skills tests known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress. But it could have a big effect on education debates, potentially increasing the number of students designated as "low-income" and reframing the debate on poverty's effects in America."

"Perhaps we should begin looking more closely at two different groups of poor children. Consider research to identify the most meaningful differences between the households of (a) poor kids who fail academically and (b) poor kids who succeed academically."

"The University of Virginia remains one of the nation's least socioeconomically diverse public schools, according to a new report that also commends the University of Richmond for serving low-income students."

"Now, the New America Foundation's Stephen Burd is out with a bracing report arguing that schools are actively trying to recruit high-income students with merit aid and other enticements, and making it harder and harder for low-income students to attend in the process. The share of high-income students receiving aid be it federal, state, or institutional went from only 13 percent in 1995-96 to 18 percent in 2007-08."