This report compiles the research on racial disparities both in the use of student debt and in higher education outcomes, specifically focusing on disparities between white students and Black students. In order to do so, the authors bring together two streams of research that are often siloed: research from experts on higher education access and…

This paper is an empirical analysis of the determinants of crime in Virginia. Over a dozen explanatory variables that current literature suggests as important determinants of crime are collected. The data is from 1970 to 2000. These include economic, fiscal, demographic, political, and social variables. The regression results indicate that crime…

Procedures mentioned in this article include: (1) developing a new test, (2) modifying test items or keyed responses on existing tests, and (3) developing new norms for existing tests. Examples are given for each procedure, and advantages and disadvantages are discussed. (Author)

The number of poor people has increased. The migration of whites and working class blacks from the inner city has led to a growing concentration of black urban poverty. The class transformation of the inner city has led to its social isolation. (BJV)

Synthesizes research findings from 10 studies on urban homeless families; and details their demographic characteristics, including the number of children, race, ethnicity, and family composition. Focus is on mothers with children and the effects of homelessness on children. (SLD)

The word "underclass" has become popular, but it is nebulously defined. The focus of discussions on the underclass is not on economics but behavior. The poor are scapegoats for drug problems and the crime rate. The concept of "underclass" ignores the conflict between the dynamic of tokenism and the reality of capitalism. (BJV)

Although the vast majority of single mothers do not fit the description of an underclass, there is a small group of predominantly black single mothers concentrated in northern urban ghettos that is persistently weakly attached to the labor force, socially isolated, and reproducing itself. Although welfare programs are necessary for those who are…

William Julius Wilson's "The Truly Disadvantaged" blames the rise in the Black urban underclass on the rapid, systemic, and structural changes in the economy in the 1970s, which left Black unemployment at a spectacularly high rate. His insights should be acknowledged and his recommendations heeded. (BJV)