Will Bloomberg's $1.8 billion gift to Johns Hopkins University expand opportunities for low-income students?

Rachel Fishman was mentioned in The Baltimore Sun about Johns Hopkins University and merit scholarships.

When Rachel Fishman read Bloomberg’s op-ed in the New York Times, she was struck by the magnate’s assertion that opportunity should be based on merit and not wealth.

“To even get into Johns Hopkins, you have to have had the resources to do well,” said Fishman, deputy director for research with the Education Policy program at New America. “There are a lot of meritorious students who don’t end up at a Hopkins or a Harvard. They just don’t have the resources available to end up in those places.”

The magnitude of the gift, she said, makes her wonder how much better $1.8 billion could have been spent. If it had been invested in community colleges or state institutions, Fishman said, there would be a bigger bang for Bloomberg’s bucks.

“Underrepresented students are starting out at such a disadvantage that you’re not going to solve an equity gap without focusing the money on the places where most of these students are ending up,” Fishman said.