Methodology

Like the three previous Undermining Pell reports, this report judges four-year colleges based on two criteria: the proportion of Pell Grant recipients they enroll and the average net price they charge the lowest-income students.

Colleges report both the Pell and net-price-by-income data to the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), which displays the school-by-school data on the College Navigator website.

The Pell data represent the percentage of all undergraduates on a campus that have received Pell Grants. The average net price data represent the average amount of money that students and their families have to pay after all grant and scholarship aid is deducted from the listed price. Colleges report the net price data broken down by income for only first-time, full-time students who receive federal financial aid. Public colleges and universities report on in-state students only. This report specifically looks at the data for students with family income of $30,000 or less. Both the Pell and net price data are for the 2015–16 academic year.

This year’s report examines 584 public four-year colleges in the 50 states. Colleges that did not report average net price data to IPEDs were excluded, as were military academies, and state colleges that primarily award associate degrees.