Brooklyn College ranked ninth in social mobility index

Brooklyn College is one of the top 10 colleges in the U.S. helping students move up the socioeconomic ladder.

The college is listed as number nine out of 1,549 four-year colleges across the country on this year’s CollegeNet social mobility index report which measures how effectively colleges and universities enrolled students from low-income backgrounds and graduate them into well-paying jobs.

Brooklyn College was joined by six other CUNY schools on the list along including Baruch College.

“Once again, Brooklyn College’s transformative work helping students into rewarding careers has been recognized in the Social Media Index for 2021,” said Brooklyn College President Michelle J. Anderson. “As we continue to work our way through one of the most challenging periods in our nation’s history, our focus continues to be offering whatever assistance our students need to succeed. Whether it be in the classroom or emotional and financial support, enhancing Brooklyn College student success is our number one goal.”

CollegeNet uses five variables to determine social mobility rankings: published tuition, graduation rate, endowment, percent of student body whose family income is below $48,000 a year, and median salary approximately five years after graduation.

The index was created under the belief that economic disparity is “a pressing problem and higher education is in the strongest position to address it” and this year’s index was released as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disproportionally impact low-income students. The pandemic has prompted many students from low-income backgrounds to pause or abandon their studies entirely. Close to 7 million students reported they canceled all plans to take post-secondary school classes in the fall of 2020 due to changes in their ability to pay for courses because of the pandemic, according to a survey from the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Unlike other college rankings that celebrate wealth and its proxies, the SMI helps families and policymakers determine which colleges are addressing the national problem of economic mobility,” said CollegeNET President Jim Wolfston. “Administrators have a better chance to help strengthen U.S. economic mobility and the promise of the American Dream if they can identify and learn from colleges that are skilled at doing this. Given that the U.S. is now the least economically mobile among developed nations, it is irresponsible to say an education institution is ‘better’ because it has a huge endowment, or because it admits students with higher SAT/ACT scores—which are most tightly correlated to family income.”