One researcher thinks the UI is beginning to look more like a country club than an academic institution.

Iowa’s public universities are some of the worst in the nation at enrolling students from low- and lower-middle income families, said Tom Mortenson, a higher education policy analyst who spoke at the UI on Wednesday.

As a senior scholar for the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, Mortenson’s main focus is on Iowa’s reputation of educating disadvantaged students.

“We have a long history of uninterest in the lower-middle class,” he said.

Mortenson’s research shows Iowa has a large discrepancy between its public and private universities. The state ranks well at second in the nation for enrolling students from low- to lower-middle income families, but public universities alone fall short at 49th.

Fewer than a quarter of students attending Iowa’s public universities are federally funded Pell Grant recipients, significantly lower than the community-college percentage, more than 36 percent. Among the three regent universities, the UI has the lowest percentage — 18 percent.

Mortenson, who has conducted research for 40 years, told a group of approximately 40 faculty and staff members the main issue is universities acting as gatekeepers by deciding who gets access to education.

“You have to look at higher education as a class-sorting education,” Mortenson said.

Students who receive bachelor’s degrees statistically make significantly more money compared with those with associate’s degrees, Mortenson said.

But UI Provost Wallace Loh said people must consider some critical points when digesting this research.

Mortenson largely bases his research on information about Pell Grants, which can be used at any academic institution where a student is accepted. The UI has set criteria for admittance.

Statistically, Loh said, low income and grades show a close correlation because of increased opportunities for students with high-income families.

And financial backgrounds of students play no role in their acceptance to the UI, said Associate Provost Beth Ingram.

“The [UI] practices need-blind admission,” she said. “We never turn anyone away who is eligible.”

And once students are admitted, Loh said the university guarantees sufficient aid for those with financial needs.

“It’s not like there’s some intentional effort to recruit high-income students,” Loh said. “We care deeply about educating everybody.”

Kelly Strang, who attended Wednesday’s lecture, serves as a counseling coordinator for the UI’s TRiO Student Support Services, a program works with first-generation, low-income, and disabled college students to help them overcome challenges while attending school.

Funds to the program have recently been cut, making it difficult to help all students who need it, she said.

“I see it every day with students,” she said. She wants to help give students “the feeling that college is possible,” Strang said.

Mortenson said the UI can improve by setting a Pell Grant enrollment target and actively recruiting students from low-income families.

“It’s not healthy to reinforce an inherited class,” he said.