The Economic Imperative of Expanding College Opportunity

Closing the growing inequality gap in the United States will likely require a variety of strategies, but more education and training is clearly one of the most effective approaches for enhancing mobility. On June 26, The Hamilton Project at Brookings will host a forum on the importance of expanding college opportunity for more Americans.

Caroline Hoxby of Stanford University will present a proposal co-authored by Sarah Turner of the University of Virginia that outlines a strategy for targeting and reaching low-income, high-achieving students and providing them with the information necessary to help facilitate their application to selective colleges. William Fitzsimmons of Harvard College, Nicole Farmer Hurd of the National College Advising Corps and Russ Whitehurst of Brookings’ Brown Center on Education Policy will join a roundtable discussion on the proposal, moderated by Hamilton Project Director Michael Greenstone.

A second panel of experts will focus more broadly on the role of higher education in American mobility. Participants include Nancy Cantor of Syracuse University, David Coleman of The College Board, William Kirwan of the University System of Maryland, and Jon Whitmore of ACT, Inc. New York Times Washington Bureau Chief David Leonhardt will moderate the discussion.

Following each panel, the participants will take questions from the audience.

Get photos, video, audio and transcripts from the event at hamiltonproject.org »