The Peacocks of Saint Peter’s University were blown out of the NCAA basketball tournament in the first round, losing to University of Tennessee by 83 to 49.
But the Jesuit school in Jersey City was named the big winner of the 2024 Social Mobility Tournament, writes Jorge Klor de Alva on The 74. Compared to the other colleges in the tournament, St. Peter's is tops in putting "students on a path leading to the American Dream of upward mobility."
Klor de Alva uses the Economic Mobility Index (EMI) developed by Michael Itzkowitz, former director of the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard, which analyzes the return on investment for lower-income students who earn a degree. How much do they spend? How much more do they earn? The index also rewards schools that enroll more lower- and moderate-income students.
Most of the high-mobility colleges are public institutions with lower tuition, he writes. This year's Sweet Sixteen for social mobility included only three private universities: Brigham Young, Grand Canyon and Saint Peter’s.
The Final Four were: the Owls of Florida Atlantic (last year’s winner), the Cougars of Houston, the Beach of Long Beach State and the winner, the Peacocks of St. Peter’s.
All of St. Peter's 2,640 undergraduates receive financial aid and 62 percent qualify for Pell Grants, writes Klor de Alva. "That, coupled with low tuition ($36,900 per degree) and an earnings premium of nearly $16,000 beyond what a high school grad would earn, makes it possible for St. Peters students to pay down the cost of their degree in just 2.3 years."