The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students

Through the narratives of several low-income students who attend selective colleges, Jack differentiates the experiences between the Doubly Disadvantaged (poor students who attended under-resourced high schools) and the Privileged Poor (poor students who attended boarding schools). These differences highlight how selective schools are not doing enough to eliminate the social and financial barriers that many low-income students face, which stems from the lack of understanding of the many non-academic factors that shape student lives. A few problem areas Jack covers are: food insecurity (especially during spring break), not defining college-specific terminology which is one instance of "the gap in cultural knowledge between those who already know what they are when they enter college and those who don’t," degrading financial opportunities & programs that only widen the gap between rich and poor, etc.

What I liked:

- The inclusion of real quotes and experiences from students in diverse socioeconomic groups (doubly disadvantaged, privileged poor, and upper income).

- Real examples of good and bad university practices.

- Policy recommendations for elite colleges that are not vague (free food during spring break, defining "office hours" at the beginning of the year, removing financial barriers in an inconspicuous manner, employment opportunities that connect students to adults, etc)

What I didn't like:

- Lack of AAPI and indigenous voices.

- Some of the anecdotes got repetitive

- Since many of the differences between the doubly disadvantaged and privileged poor stem from high school experience, I would've appreciated more concrete analyses & recommendations for addressing how k-12 education—and our culture which valorizes elite education in general—shapes college experience. In general, Jack recommends poor, public high schools to adopt policies used by private high schools, but provides little detail on how this could be implemented on a large scale.

- What about childhood education? I think to only focus on high school is misleading, and Jack erases many of the differences between the privileged poor and the upper income.