The American Talent Initiative, or ATI, recently named UC Riverside as among the nation’s top universities for enrolling low-income students.  

ATI was formed in December 2016 to encourage American colleges and universities with the highest graduation rates to enroll more students from low- and middle-income backgrounds.

A recent report summarizing ATI’s first three years asserts that, among 320 eligible colleges and universities in the U.S., nearly 20,700 additional low- and moderate-income students have been added. That number represents 40% of ATI’s goal to add 50,000 such students by 2025. 

UC Riverside, one of 128 member universities of ATI, was named the nation’s No. 2 ATI institution in terms of its share of Pell Grant, or low-income, students. Fifty-three percent of UCR students are from low-income backgrounds; only UC Merced, at 65%, has a higher share. 

UCR was ranked No. 10 in ATI’s second measure of excellence, which considers how many low-income students were added between the 2015-16 and 2018-19 school terms. UCR added 414 students in that span.

To be considered eligible for ATI’s measures, an institution must be in the U.S., have a four-year undergraduate program, at least 500 undergraduate students, a six-year graduation rate of at least 70%, and must offer financial aid.