The Privileged Poor

How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students

By: Anthony Abraham Jack

Narrated by: Mirron Willis

Getting in is only half the battle. The Privileged Poor reveals how - and why - disadvantaged students struggle at elite colleges and explains what schools can do differently if these students are to thrive.

The Ivy League looks different than it used to. College presidents and deans of admission have opened their doors - and their coffers - to support a more diverse student body. But is it enough just to admit these students? In The Privileged Poor, Anthony Jack reveals that the struggles of less privileged students continue long after they've arrived on campus. Admission, they quickly learn, is not the same as acceptance. This bracing and necessary book documents how university policies and cultures can exacerbate preexisting inequalities and reveals why these policies hit some students harder than others.

If we truly want our top colleges to be engines of opportunity, university policies and campus cultures will have to change. Jack provides concrete advice to help schools reduce these hidden disadvantages - advice we cannot afford to ignore.

©2019 Anthony Abraham Jack (P)2019 Tantor

Excellent conversation about students who are unfortunately often overlooked.

Appreciated the sound research and use of qualitative data to share an important story. The author is a top notch sociologist worthy of more exposure.

thought provoking

good observations, though wonder how #metoo movement and increasing anti sexual harassment policies affect recommendations

Academic access cycle

I have so many thoughts! This book should be a must read for educational administrators.

I resonate so much!

Great read, very easy to listen to and follow along with the physical book. Required reading for any social economically disadvantaged youth going to college, grad school or is navigating college right now. Professors, policy makers, donors, take a listen!
An eye opener!

Doubly Disadvantaged - That was me in college!

An outstanding book that really took me back and made me reflect on my own years in college as a poor, first gen student at an elite university. Cafeterias were closed for breaks and we had no food. I had a loaf of bread and PB & J. That’s all. I didn’t live far from home, but home wasn’t safe. One of my parents died from a drug overdose during my junior year in college, at a time when I felt like I’d finally gotten the hang of things. I was thrown for another loop. Life was and is so hard for us as we try to navigate elite/privileged landscapes. My spouse comes from an elite world and could relate to that perspective.