Low-income students lose ground.

Income inequality in college attendance and graduation in the United States was troublingly large before the pandemic. Without an aggressive infusion of federal support for schools and students, these already sizable gaps will likely widen into chasms. Historically, a poor child in the United States has had a 10% chance of eventually earning a college degree; for children from well-off families, it's over 50%. The pandemic is widening these differences, thereby increasing poverty, reducing social mobility, and stunting economic growth. Data from the National Student Clearinghouse show that first-time enrollment at colleges and universities in the United States decreased by 13% from fall 2019 to fall 2020. At community colleges, the traditional gateway for disadvantaged students, freshman enrollment plunged 19%. Drops were largest among Black (18.7%), Hispanic (19.9%), and Native American (23.2%) students. Low-income college students have historically been half as likely to graduate as their wealthier classmates. The pandemic is likely to worsen those odds. Effective remote learning requires a broadband connection, laptop, and a quiet, private space. Low-income students are the least likely to have this critical set of resources. The hit to college enrollment may be even greater in fall 2021. Freshmen who entered college this past fall had only the tail end of their admissions cycle disrupted; the entire process has been turned upside down for next year's freshmen. Low-income and first-generation students depend on teachers, counselors, and coaches to get them through the bureaucratic and academic hurdles of college applications. Upper-income students typically have a family member who is a college graduate to play this role. All schools are challenged by remote instruction, but those serving low-income students are also struggling with connecting their students to the internet and delivering school meals. There is now little time to spare for the formal and informal college counseling that schools traditionally provide. A leading indicator of the weakening support is a national drop in financial aid applications: FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) filings are down by 16% among high school seniors, with the largest decreases among poor students. The pandemic is not just hampering the process of applying for college, but also profoundly affecting student learning. Remote learning is difficult for most students, but financially secure families can afford to hire tutors, buy broadband connections, and provide computers for their children. In poorer families, there may not even be an adult at home to supervise children's schooling: Low-paid service jobs can rarely be completed remotely. A high school or college student from a low-income family may be watching over siblings, with all of them sharing a single electronic device to connect to the internet and coursework. Public schools and colleges need more resources to provide high-quality remote learning, as well as to prepare schools for safe, in-person learning. Yet states are slashing education budgets. Public colleges (which serve the majority of American college students) are still reeling from funding cuts of the Great Recession of 2007–2009, and if state support continues to plummet, they will be forced to raise tuition and cut critical services. Rising tuition and shrinking supports will further reduce college attendance and intensify education inequality. Public schools, from preschool through college, need a financial rescue. But the states that traditionally fund these schools are facing enormous drops in tax revenue and cannot answer the call. The good news is that there are several sensible proposals to boost school spending with federal funds. The dollars need to flow, and quickly. We cannot ask college students to borrow their way out of this pandemic, nor to work more, given the collapse of the labor market. Financial aid for college students must adjust to the economic devastation caused by the pandemic. The standard response of the aid system to a sharp downturn in a family's income is to demand supplementary paperwork. This protocol is designed for unusual cases, but right now the modal family is worse off than a year ago. The aid process should be streamlined and simplified to quickly get money out the door. For example, students who have already qualified for public assistance (such as food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or school meals) could automatically get grant aid. Spending on education is an investment in the nation's future. An aggressive federal response is critical for getting students and schools through this perilous time.