Rowan ranked #35 on New York Times list of top schools for economic diversity

The New York Times published a college-access index Sept. 7, ranking Rowan University #35 in the nation for economic diversity.

The index compared top American colleges and universities for economic diversity by analyzing the share of students who receive Pell grants, federal financial aid that’s typically awarded to students from lower income families.

The study tied Rowan with five other colleges and universities (Austin College, Texas; Illinois Institute of Technology; University of Idaho; University of Montana; and William Jewel College in Missouri) in which 32 percent of undergraduate students were Pell eligible for the 2020-21 school year.

Comparing nonmilitary institutions with at least 250 total undergraduate students, the Times considered institutional freshmen Pell share – the percentage of first-year, first-time students who received Pell grants – and each school’s endowment per student, which is the total endowment divided by the number of students.

“The list covers the 286 most-selective colleges in the country, defined by Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges and other metrics,” Times editors wrote. “The colleges, both public and private, together educate about 2.7 million undergraduates.”

Under the leadership of Dr. Ali Houshmand, Rowan’s seventh president, the University has placed an expanded emphasis on increasing access to a college education and has undertaken numerous major initiatives to make completing a four-year degree, a proven benchmark for upward mobility, more affordable.