Private nonprofit colleges, which graduate one-third of all US students, are not all—or even mostly—wealthy or wealth serving. (Yes, I am subtweeting the Harvard mentions in my timeline.)

The average proportion of Pell recipients at 4-year private nonprofit colleges is 38%, versus 37% at 4-year publics (data from most recent year). Pell is the federal grant program for high-need students.

Average instructional spending per student at 4-yr private nonprofit colleges is $13,022 per year, versus $12,805 per year at 4-yr publics.

IMO the misconception comes from 2 things. 1, private nonprofit colleges that are in fact wealthy and wealth serving get the most press, so they become the stereotype in your head.

A college like Lane College in TN with 89% Pell probably doesn’t pop into your mind when you think private. And when you think public it’s probably not Miami University in OH with 11% Pell, or William & Mary in VA with 12% Pell. But these are realities, too.

2, I think in the US we intuitively read “private” as “for profit” because of the association with business, and then it gets conflated with legitimate grievances about corporate greed. I’m less sure about this but it’s a hypothesis.

I’m all about bashing wealth serving systems. Let’s go. But if you want to do that well, you need to look past the public/private distinction, is all I’m saying