By Jenny Anderson (Quartz). It’s no secret that rich parents go to great lengths to get their kids into the best colleges. New US research may quantify just how far.
Research from Michael Hurwitz, a researcher from the College Board, and Jason Lee, from the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia, looked at grade point averages (GPAs) of students who took the SAT between 1998 and 2016. They measured how much grades rose in different schools, including private independent (not religious), private religious, suburban public, and urban public schools. They found grades are on the rise—something federal research backs up—even though SAT scores declined slightly, the researchers confirmed to Quartz. But GPAs at private independent schools rose the most (these schools, unsurprisingly, attract the highest concentration of wealthy families): 8% over the 18 years, compared to 0.6% for urban public schools. Read more
