Princeton Gets $20 Million From Bloomberg Philanthropies Toward Diversity

The center will also serve as a base for research to determine the most effective support mechanisms for first-generation and low-income students and how they can be used by colleges nationwide.

The goal is to share findings with other universities to scale up a range of efforts that can help get underrepresented students “to, through and beyond the university,” said Khristina Gonzalez, an associate dean and the director of programs for access and inclusion at Princeton. She will head up the new Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity.

Ms. Bloomberg, daughter of the billionaire businessman and philanthropist Michael Bloomberg, is a 2001 Princeton graduate.

Princeton and other highly selective universities have long faced criticism for their relatively homogeneous populations, made up largely of white, wealthy students.

The schools have pursued a range of efforts to improve both their realities and reputations, including increasing outreach to low-income high schools and working with college-prep programs around the country.

But advocates for increased college access say more-meaningful progress is stymied by practices including binding early-decision admissions deadlines, which don’t allow students to compare financial aid offers. Many institutions also give a boost in admissions to athletes and children of alums.

Princeton has had some success in recent years in boosting enrollment numbers for students from a range of racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. Twenty percent of students who began in fall 2019 came from families earning $50,000, more than double the proportion in 2010. Those who are first-generation college students nearly doubled, to 17.8%, in that time.

First-generation college students represent 22% of the class admitted to begin at Princeton next fall, a record high.

But Princeton’s undergraduate enrollment, under 5,300 and expected to grow to around 5,800 in the next few years, is among the smallest in the Ivy League and modest compared with most public universities. The school recently reinstituted a transfer-admissions program, expecting to enroll 12 students from other schools next fall. Princeton’s current efforts alone aren’t expected to move the needle on improving enrollment and outcomes for low-income, first-generation or underrepresented minority students.

Dr. Gonzalez said she believes Princeton’s mentoring program aimed at first-generation and low-income students, with small groups led by graduate students and upperclassmen, could easily be scaled elsewhere.

“They are making a commitment to helping other institutions do this kind of work and inspiring other institutions in this direction,” said Angel Pérez, chief executive of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, which represents admissions officers and college counselors. “That’s where I think it could be a national movement.”

Princeton is also looking to expand the virtual version of its Freshman Scholars summer orientation program, which helps students for whom college would be a particularly big adjustment. One potential path the school is considering to extend the program’s reach is through CollegePoint, a free virtual college advising program supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies that works with students nationwide looking to attend a range of schools.

“There are certain things that hold true across whatever institution they’re going to,” Dr. Gonzalez said, like understanding why it is important to attend a professor’s office hours or how to secure a summer internship.

Princeton was a founding member in 2016 of the American Talent Initiative, a Bloomberg Philanthropies-backed coalition of public and private universities with strong graduation rates working to increase opportunities for low- and middle-income students. There are now more than 130 member schools aiming to put an additional 50,000 such students on track to graduate by 2025.

Dr. Gonzalez said that while other schools have a long history of serving more low-income and first-generation students, Princeton can help amplify all their work, given its immense resources.

“We are learning at the same time that we are able to convene and curate these best practices,” she said.

Write to Melissa Korn at [email protected]