Social mobility refers to the “change in a person’s socio-economic situation, either in relation to their parents (intergenerational mobility) or throughout their lifetime,” according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a collaboration of 37 democracies.
Individuals’ social mobility is affected by factors such as level of access to affordable housing, healthcare and insurance, reliable transportation, and quality education. This ability to be upwardly mobile is the foundation for the American dream — the idea that anyone can come to the United States with as little as a dream and determination to eventually live a comfortable middle class life. In the best situation, this leads to generational wealth and widespread economic stability.
However, in a recent Bloomberg Analysis, the city of Atlanta was ranked last in the nation for social mobility. Although it hovered in second place behind New Orleans for several years, Atlanta claimed the title in 2017. The report stated that “the home of several Fortune 500 companies, including Delta Air Lines Inc. and Coca-Cola Co., the city boasts extreme wealth, with many executives earning top-dollar salaries … At the same time, many individuals work low-paying jobs in the hospitality and retail sector. The city’s poverty rate sits at 24 percent — or nearly one in four people.”
Located in the heart of Midtown, Georgia Tech acts as an Institute dedicated to progress and service. Despite being ranked the 10th best public school and 33rd best national university by U.S. News & World Reports, Tech ranked 285th on the social mobility rating. Below is a comparison of the different schools, their social mobility ranking, and their national university ranking.
Georgia State University: 151th (227th best national university)
Augusta State University: 222th (332nd best national university)
Georgia Southern University: 238th (352nd best national university)
Georgia Tech: 285th (33rd best national university)
Kennesaw State University: 305th (394–435th best national university)
University of Georgia: 184th (47th best national university)
According to their website, U.S News considered four main factors to determine these rankings: Pell graduation rates, Pell graduation performance, first generation graduation rates, and first generation graduation performance.
These factors were meant to account for vulnerable populations as Pell Grant recipients typically come from households with an annual income of less than $50,000. The incorporation of first-generation college student statistics helps to account for immigrants, their children, and underrepresented minorities such as African and Hispanic Americans who have faced systemic barriers to education.
Christopher Burke, Executive Director of Community Relations at Georgia Tech, explained what he believes put Tech in this unique situation.
“The Georgia Tech population is vastly different [from other University System of Georgia schools]. Both Kennesaw and Georgia State are likely going to have a lot more first generation students and are more likely to have students from challenging backgrounds than Georgia Tech,” Burke said, explaining that because of this difference in demographics, other schools are forced to reconcile the gap in available resources. While Burke acknowledged that we may hear rags-to-riches stories at events like convocation and commencement, these celebratory tales are unattainable for the masses.
“Everybody knows those stories like ‘he grew up in the projects, but he got into Tech’ — but those are extreme outliers. This does not reflect the average Tech student profile,” Burke said. Aside from this difference in population, Burke believes Georgia Tech may be a victim of its own success. He suggested that because the value of a degree from Georgia Tech is perceived as being so valuable, the Institute may have assumed it was a solution to the problem of social immobility itself. Burke praised the Institute’s social infrastructure for its focus on preparing students to become better people through accessible study abroad programs and extracurriculars. However, he suggested that if Georgia Tech wants to increase its social mobility for students, it should increase the number of Pell Grants given to students, be more proactive to inform all students of on and off campus financial support, provide affordable healthcare and mental health services, and continue work with the state of Georgia to increase need-based scholarships and grants. He cautioned against relying on loans as a form of aid.
Burke pointed to this lack of need-based aid as a larger issue for the state of Georgia. “There is needs-based aid in the state of Georgia, but you have to be really poor,” he said. “If both your parents work in retail or a similar job, you are far from being affluent, but you have too much money to qualify for those programs.”
Major scholarship programs like HOPE that millions of Georgia students have relied on are merit-based and, as Burke pointed out, “academic performance is largely linked to socioeconomic status,” creating a vicious cycle for disadvantaged students.