Released: April 09, 2007

College kids’ family incomes top national average by 60%

Source: Mary Beth Marklein, USA Today

Parents who send their children to four-year colleges have long been above average when it comes to income. But today’s freshmen are financially better off than ever before, and the gap is widening, a report on 40-year trends in higher education shows.

Freshmen in 2005 reported median family incomes 60% higher than the national average, says the report, released today by UCLA’s Cooperative Institutional Research Program. In 1971, incomes were 46% above the national average.

“Not only (does) the gap exist, it’s growing, and there’s nothing to suggest that we’re reversing this gap,” says report co-author José Luis Santos, a UCLA assistant professor of education.

The findings are based on data collected by UCLA since 1966. More than 8.3 million first-year students at 1,201 four-year colleges and universities nationwide participated.

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