Offers Great Opportunity for Low Income Students to Rise Up

Students coming from families with low incomes have a great chance of making it big if they attend St. Francis College, writes the New York Times in an assessment of a major new report conducted by The Equality of Opportunity Project.

Out of almost 600 selective private colleges, the Times writes that students from St. Francis were offered the 19^th best "chance a poor student has to become a rich adult." The Equality of Opportunity Project found that a student coming from the bottom fifth of incomes had a 49% chance to reach the top fifth of incomes as an adult.

"One of the things we are most proud of at St. Francis College is that for more than 150 years we have been educating people who are the first in their family to attend a college, many of them with economic needs," said President Timothy J. Houlihan. "Time and again, a St. Francis education has opened the door to a better future. Studies like this show that we are a proven path to success for those who dream of a better tomorrow."

The Upshot, a division of the New York Times which concentrates on using data to tell their stories, also writes that St. Francis ranked 13^th out of 578 selective private colleges in their Overall mobility index, which "reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at Saint Francis College moved up two or more income quintiles."

"Economic mobility is a big part of what college should be about," added President Houlihan. "At St. Francis we offer an excellent private college education at an affordable price. The results are students who take advantage of the tools we give them to succeed, opportunities in New York City, and little debt to hold them back."

The Equality of Opportunity Project came up with its results by examining millions of anonymous tax filings and tuition records as well as public statistics on students' earnings and their parents' incomes.

St. Francis College, founded in 1859 by the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn, is located in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. Since its founding, the College has pursued its Franciscan mission to provide an affordable, high-quality education to students from New York City's five boroughs and beyond.

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