College Board ‘Compact’ Targets Low-Income Students

The College Board is seeking to mobilize its more than 5,200 members—including schools, colleges, and other educational organizations—in a national campaign to better help students from low-income families prepare for, get into, and succeed in college.

Among the ideas put forward for action are setting student-aid policies that narrow the gap in enrollment between students from low-income and affluent backgrounds, waiving college-application fees for low-income students, and mounting college-awareness programs.

The “CollegeKeys Compact” is outlined in a report issued by a task force of the board of trustees of the New York City-based nonprofit organization, which is best known for the SAT and the Advanced Placement programs. The October report, billed as “An Open Letter to the Leaders of American Education,” finds that nearly half of all college-qualified graduates from low- and moderate-income families do not enroll in four-year colleges...