Why Wealth Matters: Reflections on Editing PCC's Groundbreaking Report

November 16, 2025

Brianna Torres

Lead Editor

I'm excited to share a powerful new report from the Partnership for College Completion (PCC) that I had the opportunity to copyedit! The PCC is a Chicago-based policy organization committed to advancing equity in higher education at both the institution and state levels. The report demonstrates how access to family wealth (such as investments, business revenue, retirement savings, real estate, inheritance, savings accounts, etc.) shapes student economic need in a larger, more impactful way than income when pursuing higher education. It identifies “dually disadvantaged” students, or students who come from both low-income and low-wealth households, and distinguishes them from students disadvantaged by income alone. The findings show that students disadvantaged by only income are roughly 30% more likely than the dually disadvantaged to both go to college and go on to complete a bachelor’s degree. This significant gap illuminates the added advantage that family wealth provides for college seekers. Compared to those at the 90^th percentile of income who earn roughly 15x more than those at the 10^th percentile (see the PCC’s figure below), families at the 90^th percentile of wealth hold over 400x the assets of those in the 10^th percentile—a chilling disparity.

Yet, state financial aid systems largely use income as the primary means to identify and address student need. If you’ve filled out a higher education financial aid application, as either a student or parent, you are well aware that the questions asked primarily reflect the family’s earnings, not their asset portfolio. The PCC’s report makes clear that current state financial aid systems are failing dually disadvantaged students. In Illinois, New York, and California, singly and dually disadvantaged students receive roughly the same financial aid allotments—rendering the dually disadvantaged’s increased economic need virtually invisible. Households with a stay-at-home parent but significant savings or property, business owners who reinvest their profits, and families with inherited wealth may all produce (and report) little income, yet their access to wealth positions college seekers in their family for greater college success than those with no wealth to draw on.

When state financial aid systems overlook wealth in their need calculations, existing disparities are only reinforced and equity gaps are widened. As someone whose background is in higher education and with experience growing up dually disadvantaged, this report was particularly resonant. It’s especially clear to me why reimagining the current approach to financial aid allocation is paramount.

PCC’s proposed solution is to 1) make it easier to identify dually disadvantaged students by modifying existing state financial aid allocation systems and 2) provide extra, targeted funding (a $5000 grant) to ensure their extra need is accounted for. Their data shows that the benefits of such an investment far outweigh the costs. The potential of our young people is thwarted when they cannot access higher learning due to economic circumstances shaped by systems and circumstances far outside their control.

Ultimately, the PCC gives us new language and data that compel us to think deeply about the material impact of access, or the lack thereof, to wealth in the higher education space. If you’re interested in social justice, higher education policy, or financial aid reform, I highly recommend giving this report a read. Working on projects like this always reminds me of the power of storytelling, especially when backed by data, in moving the needle forward, and I’m so thrilled to be able to contribute to that. I sincerely enjoyed supporting the delivery of such impactful and timely research.

For researchers, policymakers, and practitioners, the implications here are profound: we cannot achieve equity using systems that ignore the very conditions shaping students’ lives. And for researchers, organizations, and scholars seeking a partner in the preparing of their next manuscript for publication, I am here to help!