this is an essay i jst wrote on this subject it might give you some ideas
English 1A
Chapter 4
Oct 17 2006
Empowering the economically challenged to go on to college
In her essay “Needed: affirmative action for the poor” Laura D’ Andrea Tyson explores the apparent disparity between children who come from lower income homes and children who are from families with more income and the effects on college enrollment. I find that I agree with the points she makes. I often think about my fellow students from high school and what they went on to be. Recently, I have also thought about what influenced them to make the decisions that lead them to their current positions in life. I remember the kids who came from wealthy families who went off to prestigious schools right after high school even the ones I knew as less than exemplary scholars. I also noticed that some of the brightest minds ended up at community college, working part time, to pay there way. It never struck me as wrong; it just seemed like a waste of potential. I think back, and remember that all the wealthy kids came from families with parents that had degrees, most of them masters or doctorate. Not that some of the kids with money were not smart, just that the ratio seemed a little out of balance. Now some years later my feelings are confirmed through many studies of this issue.
I have found that,
“Nine in ten high school graduates from families earning more than $80,000 attend college by the time they are 24, compared to only six in ten from families earning less than $33,000” ( Gladieux).
I also found,
“At the nation's most selective colleges and universities, only three percent of students come from the bottom income quartile and only 10 percent come from the bottom half of the income scale. Almost three quarters come from families in the top quartile” (Carnevale, Rose).
Further research revealed,
“A student from the highest income quartile and the lowest aptitude quartile (as measured by standardized test scores) was as likely to be enrolled in college as a student from the lowest income quartile and the highest aptitude quartile” (Gladieux).
Most importantly,
“Within five years of entering college nationwide, more than 40 percent of students from the top income quartile graduate with a B.A. compared to 6 percent from the lowest income quartile”(Fitzgerald, Delaney).
Society as a whole is better off when its members receive the benefits of higher education. We are more competitive in the world of science and technology as well as art and the humanities when we enable students to go as far as their abilities allow them, without respect to economic condition. Surely we are forward thinking enough to know that great minds are not just a product of wealthy pedigrees and, in fact, are evenly distributed among all socioeconomic groups. When we do not encourage all who have the learning ability and scholastic aptitude to advance as far as possible, we create an underclass that does not have to be. We stop people from being able to gain the skills to get the high paying jobs that will elevate their position in society. By creating this underclass, we generate a tax on society as a whole.
The costs to society are often not evident, considering the fact that each young mind that does not go on to fulfill his or her potential will ultimately earn less, and possibly require more social services than their educated counterparts. In that scenario, we must also take into account that those who earn less contribute a smaller amount per capita to taxes and charity, thereby shifting the burden to the rest of society. That can be seen as a direct cost to society as a whole. Also, consider that the next big breakthrough in science or technology could be stymied as a result of an economically disadvantaged student not pursuing higher education because a potential student was forced into the unskilled labor pool by the inability to pay for the ever increasing costs associated with higher education.
The case for economic affirmative action is a strong one. By actively encouraging the students with the highest scholastic aptitude to attend and complete secondary education we make conditions better for all. The statistics show that a higher percentage of students from wealthy areas go on to higher education the same statistics show just as many bright minds exist in the poorer schools. We must do more to facilitate the success of less advantaged students earlier, and more vigorously if we hope to change the status quo. It has been shown that the reasons for students, who are qualified to go on, choose not to for many reasons, some of them very complicated. In homes with less income, day to day struggles often supercede the ability to look to a brighter future. If a student does not have family member who has gone on to complete college, he or she often is not aware of the multitude of benefits that a solid education can provide. Students from higher income homes often don’t even consider the option of not attending college because it is ingrained in the fabric of their family unit. The norm for the two is just not the same. For a child from a poor family secondary education is seen as an option, yet for a child from a wealthy family, it is just a given.
Some of the ways we can level the playing field include, giving preferential status to those who have been identified as having come from an economically disadvantaged household, and making more financial aid available to these students, so that money plays no part in the decision making process that is involved in choosing a life path. We must also offer multi faceted support for first generation college students, to ensure their success in what can be an unfamiliar endeavor. Only then can these qualified students go on to enrich society as a whole, while also improving the chances of future generations, following the path towards higher learning. By doing so we will ultimately improve all areas of society because enlightened, critical thinking, educated minds go on to contribute more as a whole than those who choose not to pursue secondary education. I completely agree with Laura D’ Andrea Tyson. We owe it to society to do all that we can to equalize the difference between the economically disadvantaged, and the people who have the economic means to send their offspring to college
Works Cited
Carnevale, Anthony and Rose, Stephen J., "Socioeconomic Status, Race/Ethnicity, and Selective College Admissions" in Kahlenberg, Richard D., ed., America's Untapped Resource: Low-Income Students in Higher Education, New York: The Century Foundation Press, 2004
Fitzgerald, Brian K. and Delaney, Jennifer A., "Educational Opportunity in America," in Heller, Donald E., ed., Condition of Access: Higher Education for Lower Income Students, Westport, CT: Praiger Publishers, 2002
Gladieux, Lawrence E., "Low-Income Student and the Affordability of Higher Education," in Kahlenberg, Richard D., ed., America's Untapped Resource: Low-Income Students in Higher Education, New York: The Century Foundation Press, 2004
Muller, Gilbert. McGraw-hill reader issues across the disciplines. 9th. New York:
McGraw-hill, 2006
