[View a pdf of Baum's presentation slides.]

The Aydelotte Foundation continues their series devoted to examining questions of inequality, access, and opportunity as they relate to higher education with a lecture by Sandy Baum.

Selective colleges can play an important role in facilitating social mobility for people from a wide range of backgrounds, but most postsecondary students attend other types of institutions. Baum’s lecture discusses the options available to institutions for promoting opportunity, the role of federal education policy, and the potential of higher education to mitigate the growing economic inequality plaguing our nation.

Baum is a research professor at the George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development and a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. A Professor Emerita of Economics at Skidmore College, Baum earned her B.A. in sociology at Bryn Mawr College, where she is currently a member of the Board of Trustees, and her Ph.D. in economics at Columbia University. She has written and spoken extensively on issues relating to college access, college pricing, student aid policy, student debt, affordability, and other aspects of higher education finance.