College education to escape poverty?

A sad and disheartening news in NY Times, "For Poor, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall", http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/education/poor-students-struggle-as-class-plays-a-greater-role-in-success.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 College education is the commonly accepted norm for kids in disadvantaged families to climb the income ladder. The chance is still there but the kids from low-income families with above-the-average performances hold much less chance through college education to escape the poverty than a generation ago. Woefully, it is due to widening income gap and soaring expense for college education.