But the report found that one system stands out: Schools in the University of California system are doing significantly better than other four-year colleges and universities in the country when it comes to enrolling low-income students and seeing them across the finish line. Of the public and private nonprofit schools with a higher-than-average Pell-awardee enrollment rate (the schools this study examined), the UCs occupy five of the top 10 slots in terms of graduating students. Among only public institutions, they are the top seven.

Schools With High Pell-Awardee Enrollment and Graduation Rates

“Every single time we do these outcome measures, the UC system stands out,” Lanae Erickson Hatalsky, who leads the social policy and politics program at Third Way, told me. A 2016 report from Third Way on outcomes for students at public colleges similarly found that colleges in the UC system fared better than their peers.

Why is that? The state money available for higher education makes a big difference—and the UCs have remained among the better-funded colleges in the country, as institutions in other states have seen sharp cuts. They devote a good portion of that funding to getting low-income students onto campus in the first place. In recent years, colleges have placed increased emphasis on outreach to low-income communities to diversify the socioeconomic makeup of their student body, including sending recruiters to schools they haven’t traditionally frequented and helping with college counseling.

The UCs do those things, and a bit more. For starters, they provide academic preparation for high-school students at underserved schools to ensure that they meet the requirements to attend the colleges, and hold academic-enrichment programs in the summer. When students are seniors, the UCs help them with their applications and financial aid. That early outreach is crucial for students, Yvette Gullatt, a vice provost of the university system, told me, because it allows them to build a relationship with the university—perhaps making it more likely that they will apply. More than 100,000 students are enrolled in these programs, according to Gullatt.

Representatives from the UCs also go to local high schools and churches to demystify college, which can be an important step. Applying for college can be daunting, especially if one is not from a wealthy family—the sticker price alone is enough to dissuade many students from applying—or if one is the first in the family to attempt to get a postsecondary education. “We explain to them that a family with an income of $80,000 or below is not going to pay tuition at the University of California,” Gullatt said. “That often unlocks the door for families who realize that UC is within their reach financially as well as academically.”