Attending the most selective colleges has an outsized impact on the economic mobility of first-generation, lower-income (FLI) students and their families and on access to many of the top leadership positions in the U.S. As economist Raj Chetty has found, less than one percent of Americans attend the most selective colleges, yet they account for 13.4% of those in the top .1% of the income distribution, a quarter of U.S. Senators, half of all Rhodes Scholars, and three-fourths of Supreme Court justices appointed in the last half-century.

 

FLI students face limited access to those opportunities due to a selective college admissions process too often marked by a lack of transparency and information, systemic biases towards affluent students, reduced access to early decision advantages, and challenges navigating the financial aid process.

 

The Consortium for College Opportunity was conceived and organized by Grove Impact, a nonprofit that launches systemic social impact initiatives. The Consortium helps selective colleges expand the pipeline of qualified applicants and equips leading CBOs to support their students in successfully navigating the selective college admissions process. By organizing the intentions, process, and interactions integral to college-CBO partnerships, the Consortium serves as an engine of economic mobility and offers students a pathway to leadership.