Federal agencies, state governments, and especially institutions of higher education are driving students who are from low-income families or are members of minority groups away from colleges and universities, according to a study released on Thursday that analyzed class mobility and racial matriculation rates in academe. The study concluded not only that such students face greater financial burdens than ever before, but also that those who end up at college are \"attending in ways far less likely to lead to a degree.\" Higher education has become \"simply another agent of stratification,\" says the report, produced by the Education Trust, a nonprofit research-and-advocacy organization, which did not blame any one group for that outcome. The group noted that federal Pell grants have leveled off in recent years and have not kept up with rising tuition costs, and also that state-government aid to low-income students has increased at smaller rates than aid to middle-class and wealthy students.