What would you do with $1.5 million? For some families, that’s the cost of a potential fast track to an Ivy League school.

Over the last 30 years, the cost of a college education has increased dramatically. However, for many families, the financial investment starts before a student even applies. Many families across the U.S. spend thousands of dollars to get students into college in the first place.

College preparation inequality is mainly rooted in income class advantages. It is essential to recognize this disparity and work to bridge the gap. There are models right here in Brookline that do just that, and there are tangible ways to make change both at the individual and at the policy level.

Research shows a strong positive correlation between income levels and SAT scores, meaning higher income usually predicts higher scores. According to the 2023 College Board annual score report, the highest income group’s average SAT score was around 1148, while the lowest income group’s average score was around 891. The cost of one-on-one SAT/ACT tutoring can be astonishing, with some companies charging up to $175 to $420 per hour. Another factor is that fewer low-income students take the test (only about 1 in 10 in the lowest income bracket). Many see SAT scores as an equalizer because they are an objective, uniform measure; however, people who can afford to pay will likely take several steps to achieve higher scores

In addition to test preparation support, many high-income families spend thousands to tens of thousands of dollars on college prep services. This expensive preparation process (which includes college list formation, essay writing support, and more) exacerbates the existing class division in the support afforded to students across various income groups.

Also, 36 percent of students who attend elite schools such as Yale attended boarding schools, private day schools, and religious schools, a similar trend in other top universities. Top boarding schools in the nation cost, on average, $70,000 per year. These costs are completely out of reach for many families, and there are often not enough financially realistic supports for students.

To make the college prep process more equitable, it is important to ensure that any student who wants to can access additional support. Many colleges today use blind admission, which is when colleges don’t see a student’s financial situation until after they have been accepted, which theoretically would further equalize the admission process. Some schools, including MIT, offer full tuition reimbursement for families making up to $200,000 per year.

However, while school admissions committees can conduct need blind review processes and accept students regardless of their ability to pay, there’s no way for admissions counselors to know how much a family has spent on college preparation programs, test tutors, and more. This is an unfair advantage that may go unrecognized in the acceptance process.

Across school communities, including students, parents, school administrators, and policy decision makers, there needs to be increased awareness of this college prep disparity, and more money and time put into helping low-income students access the same supports as higher-income peers.

There are multiple ways that people can take immediate action to increase access to college preparation support across income groups on a local and national level.

First, families who can afford to pay for additional college admission support should be encouraged to donate a portion to local organizations like Steps to Success. Based in Brookline, Steps to Success aims to support low-income kids from third grade through college. Since 2001, the program has supported over 5,000 students from third grade to college with access to extracurricular activities, mentorship, broad academic support, college counseling, test prep, and more.

Second, when choosing a college admission company, families should look for companies that follow a model similar to College Essay Guy’s, which uses money from full-paying clients to subsidize the same services for low-income students.

Lastly, neighborhood groups in towns and states outside of Brookline can adapt models similar to Steps to Success to bring more support to a larger population of students across the country. To help make this happen, anyone can spread the word about the impact of Steps to Success and advocate for a policy that would require it to be a program in schools across the state.

At a national level, there should be more funding allotted to public school systems from the Department of Education to increase access to test preparation and college counseling support for families. This could include an increased budget to fund more college admissions counselors within public high schools. If public high schools had greater resources, people wouldn’t feel pressure to spend large amounts of money on external help, and SAT/ACT prep could be built into the existing school program. These actions can help close the gap and increase equitable access to support during a stressful period in students’ lives.