I used to work as a Night Counselor at a school for boys.
The biggest stumbling block for lower-income students was their utter disdain for higher-learning or any sort of success which wasn't glorified in rap because that and sports figures were the only successes which they were regularly exposed to in popular media --- the gifted student who had gotten the scholarship and escaped the ghetto was not in general going back there to conduct business or practice medicine or teach.
A program where inner city students were required to return to their communities and work to improve them in order to receive their scholarship is about the only way out I can envision.
The biggest stumbling block for lower-income students was their utter disdain for higher-learning or any sort of success which wasn't glorified in rap because that and sports figures were the only successes which they were regularly exposed to in popular media --- the gifted student who had gotten the scholarship and escaped the ghetto was not in general going back there to conduct business or practice medicine or teach.
A program where inner city students were required to return to their communities and work to improve them in order to receive their scholarship is about the only way out I can envision.