The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon

The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon

The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon

Making success affordable

The University’s new initiatives for under-resourced students are an opportunity to improve our track record.
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Alice Xiao

Over the first few weeks of the school year, the University has announced a series of initiatives targeting under-resourced students, including those who are the first in their families to go to college or come from low-income backgrounds. The University has announced a new application system for the 2016–17 application cycle called the Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success, an alternative to the Common App and Universal App, specifically catering to students from low-income backgrounds. Additionally, in a student-wide e-mail, the University recently announced its new Center for College Student Success, an office dedicated to supporting students from under-resourced backgrounds. The Center will provide a mentoring program for first-generation students this year and is working on additional programming, such as workshops on navigating the University. The new Center provides a much-needed space for students to feel supported and works with administrators to make the University a more welcoming place to students from a diversity of backgrounds.

The University has lagged behind peer institutions in terms of accessibility. This year, The New York Times’s College Access Index, which measures the socioeconomic diversity at colleges, gave the University a slightly below average ranking, as it had last year. Many of our peer institutions such as Dartmouth, Yale, Columbia, and Harvard score above average. This score is based off of the number of graduates receiving Pell Grants and the net price of attendance for middle-income students. In light of these numbers, it’s encouraging to see the University make concerted efforts to address these problems.

The Maroon Editorial Board encourages the University to sustain the momentum of these recent efforts. The new Center for College Student Success’s engagement with students is promising, and hopefully these conversations will lead to further initiatives, such as providing a textbook bank and expanding financial aid. With time, we hope the University’s new initiatives will tangible and quantitative results for its students.

–The Maroon Editorial Board

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Solana Adedokun

Elena Eisenstadt

Cherie Fernandes

Michael McClure

Eva McCord

Naina Purushothaman

Kayla Rubenstein

Anu Vashist

 

The Editorial Board publishes editorials that represent The Maroon's institutional voice. Seven to 10 voting-eligible members of The Maroon compose the Board. The editor-in-chief runs the editorial board, and the managing editor is required to be a member. Each member of the Board has equal voting power. No more than three members of the Editorial Board may dissent from a published editorial. If more than three members dissent, the editorial may not be published. Dissenters are entitled but not required to explain the reason(s) for their dissent at the end of the editorial. 

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