BraxtonBudo

March28,2016
Richards
Writing2010005
Synthesis2
Withovercrowdedjobmarketsbecomingmorecompetitive,today,afouryeardegreeis
virtuallyconsideredanessential.Nowmorethaneverweareseeinganincreaseinthe
numberofstudentsmovingforwardtocontinueontohighereducation.Unfortunately,
therearealsomanystudentsthatarebeingdeniedthesameopportunity.Amidstthe
riseoftuition,moreandmorestudentsarelookingforanswers.Studentsarefinding
themselvesunabletoextendtheiracademicgoalsofcontinuedlearning.
Althoughthereareseveralhelpfulservicesthathavebeenconstructedtoaidthecosts
associatedwithhighereducation,notallstudentsaretakingadvantageofthese
benefitsorgettingthemostfromthem.Researchshowsthatthelowincomestudent
populationstrugglestotakeadvantageofthesebenefits,whetheritisduetoalackof
knowledgeortheabsenceofresources.Despitetechnologicaladvancements,thereis
stillroomforimprovementtohelpsimplifytheapplicationorfinancialaidprocesses.
Thereisstillanoverwhelmingnumberofstudentsthatdonothaveaccesstosuch
knowledgeortools.
RiseinTuitionCosts

Ifoundthatmuchoftheresearchcomplementsorrelatestooneanother.Theresearch
thatwascompiledsharesbothsimilaritiesanddifferenceswiththeotherarticles.These
campsIhavecreatedrangefromconsumerexpectationsuggestingthathigher
educationisamarketedproduct,costoftuition,andlackofinstructiononbehalfofthe
institutions.Inreviewingliteratureresearchonthechallengesfacedbylowincome
students,Iwillshowthatrisingtuitioncostsdiffersfromconsumeracademic
expectation,andthatwhatisultimatelyatstakeinthisconversationisthatinstitutions
arentdoingenoughtoproperlyinformandinstructthelowincomepopulation.
Duetothecompetitivenessincareerfieldstoday,weareseeinganincreaseinpeople
makingthepushtowardhighereducation.In1972,49percentofhighschoolgraduates
ages16to24wentontocollege.Asoflastyear,66percentofhighschoolgradswere
collegebound(Wildavsky76).Thisincreaseissteeringlowincomefamiliestoward
studentloans.
ThearticleDisparitiesinDebtbyJasonN.HouleexplainshowYoung
adultsfromlowSESandmiddleincomebackgroundsaremorelikelythantheirmore
advantagedcounterpartstoturntodebtasawaytopayforcollege.(Houle67).The
articlethenmentions
Youngadultsfromlowincomeandlesseducatedfamiliesare
considerablymorelikelytotakeonveryhighdebtloadscomparedtotheirmore
advantagedcounterpartsandthusatgreaterriskofdroppingout(Houle67).Withthe
lowincomecommunitycontinuingtoturntostudentloans,thepreexistingeconomic
gapcontinuestowiden.Inanattempttoavoidorminimizedebt,studentsarelookingfor
possiblealternatives.

EconomistandMacalesterCollegePresident,MikeMcPherson,statesthatwhile
studentsareguidedlargelybythestickerprice,thatisntalwaysthepricethattheywill
pay.Peoplewronglyexpecttheworstwhenitcomestocollegecosts.Manystudents
havetheopportunitytoapplyforalternativessuchasfinancialaid,scholarships,and
otherdeductions.Whiletheseoptionsprovetobebeneficial,McPhersonsaysEvenas
tuitiondiscountsgrow,manycollegesalsobuildasignificantpartoftheiraidpackages
aroundloans.Somefinancialaidexpertsworrythat,increasingly,accesstocollegeis
comingatthecostofgrowingstudentindebtedness.Abouthalfofallstudentsgraduate
withloans,anaverageof$12,000atpublicschoolsand$14,300atprivateschools
(Wildavsky76).ClaudioSanchezofNPRconductedaninterviewwithSandyBaum,
coauthorofthereport"TrendsinCollegePricing.StatedWhenwelookatstudent
debt,wedoseethatmorestudentsareborrowing.Theamountthattheyborrowis
rising,butit'snotrisingasrapidlyastuition.Despitethegovernmentincreasingthe
amountofgrantsintendedforinneedstudents,somefamiliesfindthemselvesmaking
toomuchtoqualify,whiletheymaketoolittletokeepup.Selectarticlesconvergeinthe
acknowledgementthatstudentsaregraduatingordroppingoutofschoolwithsignificant
amountsofdebt.Itisbecomingincreasinglydifficultforlowincomefamiliestocontinue
theireducation.Anothersubtopictothiscouldbethebenefitorpayoffofcollege.Mike
McPherson,ascitedearlier,claimsthatwhileapproximately50%ofstudentsleave
highereducationwithsomeamountofdebt,hethinksthattakingondebtmaybea
sounddecisionformanystudents.Mountingevidenceshowsthat,overthelongrun,a
collegedegreeisagreateconomicinvestmentStudentswhoareenrollingatmore

prestigiousinstitutionsandpayinglargertuitionfees,theyareinthelongrunearning
highersalaries.
EducationasaMarketedProduct
Thepriceisonlyoneofthemanyissuethatlowincomestudentsfacewhenchoosing
topursueadegreeinhighereducation.Weknowthattuitionisrisingandstudentshave
highexpectationsforwhattheywillreceiveinreturn.Theresearchcollectedandthe
opinionsvoicedbytheauthorscited,leftmethinkingabouthowhighereducationis
beingmadetobeamarketedproduct.Education,ortheproduct,isbeingsoldand
purchasedbythethestudents/consumer.AuthorDanielSullivan,referencesthatThe
averagecollegestudentwillspendaboutasmuchmoneyattendingapublicuniversity
asanoutofstateindependentcollege.Hegoesontosaythatstatistically,universities
areunderperforminginregardstoontimedegreeattainmentandgraduationrates.
Therehashowever,beenpositiveactiontakenforboththeschoolsaswellasits
students.Numerouscommunitycollegesareestablishingagreementswithfouryear
institutions.ThomasNelsonCommunityCollegeinHampton,Va.,forexample,has
agreementswithseveralVirginiafouryearcollegestoacceptitscredits.Community
collegesarecollaboratingwithnearbyfouryearschoolstocreateuniversitycenters
(Wolf84).Thesecollaborationswouldgivestudentstheopportunitytoobtaindegrees
fromuniversitieswithouthavingtostepfootonthecampus.Itwouldbegreatwayfor
studentstogetthetuitionbreakstheyvebeenlookingfor,whilealsobeingabletogeta
degreefromtheirschoolofchoice.

Whiletakingintoaccountthepositivemeasuresthatinstitutionsaretaking,suchas
increasingtransferablecredits,collaborationof2and4yearschoolstocreateuniversity
centers,financialaid,etc.Regardlessofthetoolsavailable,somelowincomestudents
andtheirfamiliesarestillstrugglingtoapplyandsucceedinhighereducation.
Lackofinformationfrominstitutions
Lowincomefamiliesdontalwayshavethenecessaryresourcesandknowledgeto
accessinformationthatispertinentorbeneficialtothem.Asmoreandmorecolleges
anduniversitiesmovetowebbasedfinancialaidprocesses,allstudents,especially
lowincomestudentsandfamiliesneedtounderstandthisprocessfromthebeginningto
theendasanonlineandongoingprocess(Venegas28).The3yearlongstudy
showsthatwhilelowincomestudentstypicallyhaveaccesstoacomputer,notall
studentsandfamiliesarefamiliarwiththeprogramsandsystems.Thislackof
knowledgecanresultinmisseddeadlinesforfinancialaid,registrationforclasses,and
canevendiscouragestudentsfromwantingtoseekhighereducation.Referringbackto
theresearchofPaulThayerUsing1996data,thoseinthetopfamilyincomequartile
werefoundtocompleteabaccalaureatedegreeata74%rate,ascomparedto5%for
thoseinthebottomincomequartile.
Postsecondaryeducationinstitutionswilllogically
looktoprogramslikeStudentSupportServicestoassistinincreasingtheretentionand
graduationratesofsuchstudents.Structuredfirstyearprograms,includinglearning
communitystrategies,offerexcitingpossibilitiesforenrichingstudentpersistence,

increasingstudentconnectednesstothecollegeexperience,andenhancingthequality
oflearning(Thayer3).
Conclusion
Weseepeoplemissingoutonopportunitytofurthertheirknowledgeandimprovetheir
life.Countlessstudiesshowthatlowincomefamiliesneedaslighthandtohelpthem
understandtheprocessesandbecomemorefamiliarwiththesystem.Whilethere
needstobemoreresearchdoneonthetopicoflowincomestudents,thereisstill
enoughcurrentevidencetomakeapositivedifference.Diversifyinguniversitiesis
importanttoallstudentsandtheacademicinstitutionasawhole.Thereneedstobe
moreofanemphasisonfirst,sharingmoreinformationwiththefamiliesofpotential
enrollees,tohelpwiththeprocessofadmissions,financialaid,scholarships,etc.
Second,theschoolsneedtofocusontryingtobenefitthestudentsbygettingthem
directlyinvolvedwithlifeoncampusanddoingthethingsnecessarytoseepositive
academicprogress.Thiswouldthenlikelyincreasethegraduationandretentionrates
fortheschoolaswell.Whatisatstakeinthisconversationisthatstudentswhohave
thewanttolearnandcontinuetheireducation,shouldntbedeniedtheprivilegetodo
so.

References

Wildavsky,Ben."IsThattheRealPrice?"U.S.News&WorldReport127.9(1999):
6468.Web.4Mar.2016.

Sanchez,Claudio."CollegeTuitionCostsOnTheRise."Npr.org.
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Wildavsky,Ben."AFreezeIsonatWilliams."U.S.News&WorldReport.128.2(2000).
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Wolf,JoshuaShenk."TwoplusTwoEqualsLowerTuitionCosts."U.S.News&World
Report123.9(1997):84.Ebscohost.Web.4Mar.2016.

Sullivan,Daniel.Areyougettingwhatyoupayfor?(2004):Ebscohost,Web.4Mar.
2016

Venegas,KristanM.,InternetInequalities:FinancialAid,theInternet,andLowIncome
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Houle,JasonN.,DisparitiesinDebt:ParentsSocioeconomicResourcesandYoung
AdultStudentLoanDebt,SociologyofEducationVol.87No.1pp.5369

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