Do DC Privates *really* strive for diversity?

[Anonymous]

I think these schools would be truly diverse if they were representative of the population of DC. By that metric they fall woefully short.

[Anonymous]

From the 2006 census, here is the racial demographic for the DC Metropolitan area (the area from which the schools draw, more or less):
White : 51.7%
Black : 26.3%
Asian : 8.4%
Hispanic : 11.6%
Mixed and Other : 2.0%

How does this compare for various schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From the 2006 census, here is the racial demographic for the DC Metropolitan area (the area from which the schools draw, more or less):
White : 51.7%
Black : 26.3%
Asian : 8.4%
Hispanic : 11.6%
Mixed and Other : 2.0%

How does this compare for various schools?

There are different categories of diversity, it's not all about race. Consider socio-economic diversity, a category that most private schools in the area draw from far less though they may claim that over 20% of their students receive FA.

[Anonymous]

Genuine question: assuming that schools have finite financial resources (e.g., endowment, donations) and already have outrageously high tuitions, how should they go about increasing financial diversity? The ones I know best try to balance full-rides and partial scholarships, take kids through other scholarship-providing organizations, and offer assistance for non-tuition costs. How should they be balancing this differently?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Genuine question: assuming that schools have finite financial resources (e.g., endowment, donations) and already have outrageously high tuitions, how should they go about increasing financial diversity? The ones I know best try to balance full-rides and partial scholarships, take kids through other scholarship-providing organizations, and offer assistance for non-tuition costs. How should they be balancing this differently?

For example, a grades 4-12 school with roughly 600 students with 25% receiving FA that has a FA budget of close to $3 million dollars designating $500,000 of its budget to 12% of students who will need substantial FA, if this school has only 4 students per grade who receive substantial FA that's really not balanced. Then in contrast when you consider students who receive partial grants (perhaps 12+ students per grade) who are from families with much higher household income, it just doesn't seem that this school is doing its best to balance out the socio-economic diversity of its culture.

Is it that private schools have a FA formula in place that creates an imbalance to socio-economic diversity at their schools? Maybe, schools are more interested in attracting a certain level of socio-economic diversity. Need based admission policies are only in place for a very few students.

[Anonymous]

Are you recommending that most of FA go to those who need the most aid? Then you'll have complaints about the dumbbell effect and the shutting out of the middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you recommending that most of FA go to those who need the most aid? Then you'll have complaints about the dumbbell effect and the shutting out of the middle class.

Not a recommendation but an observation that most FA is awarded to "middle class" household's with HHI of $200-$250k. The dumbbell effect, what do you mean?

[Anonymous]

Not that poster, but what s/he means is that if you awarded aid on a true need basis, meaning gave more of it to people who needed 100% funding, then you would have only very wealthy families and families making, say, less than 100K. The group of people in the "middle class" (or what passes for it on this board) may be shut out because they need limited aid to go and can't make it happen economically otherwise. So, the distribution of families at the school looks like a dumbbell - heavy with families, over, say $300K, and families under $100K, and very few in between 100 and 300.

What you seem to be saying is that there is no dumbbell. It's more of a tapering funnel (or a cliff below a certain income point, since aid is actually not going to low income families).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not that poster, but what s/he means is that if you awarded aid on a true need basis, meaning gave more of it to people who needed 100% funding, then you would have only very wealthy families and families making, say, less than 100K. The group of people in the "middle class" (or what passes for it on this board) may be shut out because they need limited aid to go and can't make it happen economically otherwise. So, the distribution of families at the school looks like a dumbbell - heavy with families, over, say $300K, and families under $100K, and very few in between 100 and 300.

What you seem to be saying is that there is no dumbbell. It's more of a tapering funnel (or a cliff below a certain income point, since aid is actually not going to low income families).

What you seem to be saying is that there is no dumbbell. It's more of a tapering funnel (or a cliff below a certain income point, since aid is actually not going to low income families).


Yes, you got my point spot on. Thanks for the dumbbell clarification.