We the undersigned students, professors, and members of the Washington University community demand that the University take concrete steps towards ending admissions policies that discriminate against low-income students. These policies are at odds with Washington University’s commitment to fostering an intellectually diverse environment and exclude important voices and perspectives from the Wash U community. We call on the University to focus its development efforts on increasing the pool of available need-based aid and further encourage the University to prioritize the inclusion and support of low-income students when determining endowment allocation and changes to campus facilities. If you want to learn more about where Wash U stands on Socioeconomic diversity and why it matters, read our article in the Political Review: http://www.wupr.org/2014/11/19/where-washu-is-worst/.

Specifically we call on the university to:

1. Increase the percentage of Pell-eligible students attending Washington University to the median among peer institutions (Universities with graduation rates higher than 75%) by 2020.

2. Release a detailed memo that presents multiple policies we could use to reach the above goal, including an evaluation of the costs and trade-offs of transitioning towards a need-blind admissions policy while continuing to meet the full need of all admitted students.

3. Increase support for students from St. Louis public schools to apply to and attend Washington University through targeted outreach programs.

4. Increase support services for low-income students at Washington University through the creation of scholarship funds for expenses not covered by financial aid packages and the establishment of an advising program and/or support groups for students from low-income backgrounds who might not be included in the TRiO program.

Over the past two decades, Washington University has achieved the ranks of a first-rate academic institution. Today, the University draws talented students form across the nation. Discriminatory policies that actively exclude low-income students from admission detract from the meritocratic integrity of this achievement. We demand that the University now focus its resources on attracting and supporting a student body that is not only talented, but truly diverse, and better representative of all classes of society.


Sincerely,