Minority serving institutions (MSIs) play an integral role in the education of students from low-income families and communities of color where educational attainment is disproportionately low and income mobility can be stagnant. With a commitment to serve the nation and their surrounding communities, MSIs are engines of upward mobility for millions of students, and play this role even while the majority of MSIs are at a financial resources disadvantage when compared to non-MSIs. A new brief, Minority Serving Institutions as Engines of Upward Mobility, from the American Council on Education looks at newly released Equality of Opportunity Project data to examine the upward income mobility of students who attended MSIs compared to students who did not. Overall, they found that MSIs propel their students from the bottom to the top of the income distribution at higher rates than do nonMSIs.

According to a new report, Within Our Reach, from The New York Equity Coalition, in schools across New York State, students— particularly students of color and those who are low-income—are too often denied opportunities to experience rigorous instruction across a robust set of course offerings that will prepare them for college, careers, and civic life. This report from a coalition of civil rights, education, parent, and business organizations reviews the data on access to instructional opportunities in middle and high school and offers a vision for college, career, and civic readiness for all New York students. There is also a call to action to New York’s leaders to fulfill 5 Commitments to every student in the Graduating Class of 2025—a 5x25 agenda for success starting with the cohort of students who are entering sixth grade in fall 2018.