After billions in failed big bets, funders and schools are turning to this small education nonprofit

Education is the civil rights issue of our time. That's what Leslie Cornfeld decided after a decade advising New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Obama's two education secretaries — and seeing how few low-income students went to the universities that lead to high-paying jobs.

Cornfeld said she spent part of her time in the Obama administration visiting the nation's Title I high schools, those with a high percentage of low-income students. She recalled: "We heard the same themes over and over again from principals, district leaders and students. That even the most talented, hard-working scholars — in rural communities, poor urban communities, Native American communities — cannot get on the radar of more selective universities."

And even if they could get on their radar, stu