How Higher Ed Can Rebuild the American Dream | Dr. Raj Chetty | Innovating Together

Fading American Dream & Mobility Gaps

• 📉 The American Dream of upward mobility has significantly faded, with only 50% of children born in the 1980s earning more than their parents, compared to 92% for those born in 1940.
• 🗺️ Geographic disparities are stark, with some US regions offering much higher chances of upward mobility (e.g., rural Midwest) than others (e.g., Southeast, industrial Midwest cities).
• ⚖️ Racial disparities are profound, particularly for Black men, who face significantly poorer prospects for upward mobility across the country compared to white men, even when controlling for parental income.

Higher Education's Role in Mobility

• 🔑 Higher education institutions are identified as key levers to improve economic opportunity and social mobility, especially those located in areas with low upward mobility.
• 📊 Colleges contribute to social mobility through two main dimensions: access (the fraction of low-income students served) and upward mobility rate (the fraction of low-income students reaching the top 20% income bracket).
• 🎯 A critical gap exists as few colleges excel at both high access for low-income students and strong post-graduation outcomes, highlighting a systemic challenge.

Challenges in Access and Outcomes

• ⚠️ Improving access is complicated by deep disparities existing before college, such as the significant correlation between high SAT scores and higher parental income.
• 📈 Despite pre-college disparities, universities can improve access by addressing attendance gaps for low-income students who are equally qualified (e.g., same SAT scores) but less likely to enroll.
• 🎓 Student success outcomes vary, with some institutions like Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology demonstrating high access and strong outcomes by focusing on specific career pathways.

Strategies for Student Success

• 🚀 The quality of the first job after college is crucial for long-term earnings trajectories, with career-oriented programs and connections to employers making a significant difference.
• ✅ Interventions emphasizing social connection and support, such as Year Up, CUNY ASAP, and Bottomline Advising, have shown strong success in improving earnings, degree completion, and college enrollment rates.
• 🤝 These successful programs often provide mentoring, wraparound support, and direct connections to employers, highlighting the importance of social capital.

The Power of Social Capital

• 🌐 Economic connectedness, defined as low-income individuals having high-income friends, is the single strongest predictor of economic mobility across US counties.
• 🏫 On college campuses, a strong link exists between cross-class interaction and the success of low-income students, underscoring the broad impact of social capital beyond specific programs.
• 💡 Building social capital and cross-class connections is critical for increasing student success and reversing the fading American Dream.

Measuring Impact & Future Directions

• 🔬 Future efforts should focus on identifying effective interventions for creating social capital at scale and systematically evaluating their impact.
• 📊 Suggested metrics for evaluation include the quality and trajectory of students' first jobs (not just initial pay) and systematically measuring student interactions and connections on campus.
• 🌱 Linking intervention data with long-term outcomes from tax records can build scientific understanding of how to promote student success and revive the American Dream.