Wealth At Elon

Elon University, with over 80% of the undergraduate population being white, is without a doubt a predominantly white institution, or, a PWI. However, Elon is also part of a different PWI meaning. A predominantly wealthy institution. According to research provided by the New York Times in early 2017, Elon had more students coming from the top 1 percent of families on the income scale than they do students who come from the bottom 60%. The exact numbers are 14% from the top 1 percent and 9.2% from the bottom 60 percent. There were 38 colleges who fit the criteria of having more one-percenters than students in the bottom 60. Elon ranked in the top 15 among these schools for the highest percent of students coming from these families. One thing that could explain this abundance of wealth is where it is that Elon students come from.

A good number of Elon’s students come from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and Maryland, all of which are in the top 10 wealthiest states in the country. The numbers represented in the map, which are numbers from the Fall 2018 school semester, show that 669 students come from Massachusetts. 432 students come from Connecticut. 572 students come from New Jersey. And 406 students come from Maryland. The thing that all these states have in common is that they are in the top 5 states represented at Elon, outside of North Carolina, where Elon resides. These states make up just under 30% of the population of Elon for the fall semester. North Carolina, with 1722 students at Elon, makes up slightly over 24%.

Even in North Carolina, Elon pulls students from wealthier counties. Though North Carolina tends to be ranked near the bottom of the country as far as average wealth among their residence (247wallst.com has them ranked 38th for 2018), Elon pulls a big number of North Carolinians from the State's more well off counties. There is a much smaller number of these students that come from counties below the national or state average of household income. In fact, eight of the top 10 counties represented at Elon were above the North Carolina average, and five were above the US average. With a much smaller amount of students coming from these areas than more well-off areas, it wouldn’t be hard for lower-income students to be overshadowed by the abundance of wealth, as could be deducted from the infographic below. Though the information is from the 2010 census, the rankings for top and bottom counties have been relatively steady. Wake and Orange county typically reside at the top, with 247wallst.com ranking Wake as the richest county in NC for 2018.

Although lower income students make up a far less percentage of the undergraduate population, Elon prides itself on inclusion and making the opportunity available for students from different walks of life to not only get the chance to attend Elon, but to excel as well. The primary need-based Scholarship that Elon provides for its admitted students is the Odyssey Scholarship.

Odyssey Scholars Program

Entrance to the Center for Access and Success, where the Odyssey Program is located.

Housed in the Center for Access and Success on third floor Mooney, along with the Village Program and Elon Academy, is the Odyssey Scholars Program. The Odyssey program at Elon University is a mixture between a merit-based and need-based scholarship. The program seeks students who have demonstrated academic potential but may not have the funds necessary to pursue a education at Elon. The program was started in the early 2000's as a small scholarship that serviced only a few students, but has continuously grown year after as more donors donate money to the program. Odyssey scholar recipients consist of students who are first generation college students, have overcome tremendous adversity in their lives, are of different socioeconomic backgrounds than the typical Elon student, and many other varying backgrounds that a play a role in their identity. Marcus Elliott spoke more of the program during an interview about Odyssey.

The program begins with the inaugural "Odyssey Week" where students who were admitted into the program come to Elon before move-in day and spend a week getting to know the program director and other people who work within the office, as well as getting to know the fellow Odyssey members in their class. They stay in on-campus housing for the week and participate in different team building activities across campus that get them not only well acquainted with each other, but with Elon as well. They have the opportunity to meet with professors and other faculty and staff before officially arriving at Elon, which gives them the opportunity to forge relationships well before their first class. It also gives them a cohort of similar individuals that they already know heading into the school year. The students also work on a mini-research project in groups and gives them the opportunity to get a first glance of what it is going to look like to work in a college environment and how things may be different from their time in high school.

Mooney Building.

Once at Elon, the students are continually encouraged by those who work in the program throughout their academic journey. The Center for Access and Success office in Mooney serves as a space where a lot of the scholars go to study or hangout or even just to talk to program advisors about a range of topics. The program is very different from typical scholarships where the students are given their scholarship money and then left to figure things out on their own. For students coming from less well-off backgrounds to being at an institution where there are more people of high socioeconomic backgrounds than not, this can make an insurmountable difference. The culture shock could be a lot to handle for some students, but having a support system and community that helps guides one through that can ease the shock.