The Importance Of Socioeconomic Status In College Education

Recently there has been a lot of debate about the importance of college education. Students are asking if it’s worth the debt to attend a four year university or community college. Some are thinking what are the benefits of a degree is in the workforce. With college tuition increasing and state fundings lowering, low income students are struggling to attain a higher education. College institutions should have a role to provide students higher education and equal opportunity to students to increase social mobility yet intergenerational reproduction of privilege has produced inequality in education.

In the United States alone, minorities have struggled for centuries to earn the basic rights and opportunities as others. African Americans have always worked harder and been treated maliciously just because of the color of their skin. There have been numerous movements, peaceful protests, and brutal battles by black leaders against whites for equality, justice, and a fair chance at a better life. It is safe to say that in the past, blacks were not allowed to progress or have a mind of their own. In comparison to the past, the educational sector for minorities still remains as an extreme societal challenge. For many years, African Americans have been denied educational advancement opportunities. The higher education area suffers greatly for the black population but very few people will address why this matter occurs. Do black families’ socioeconomic status affect the children’s education? The socioeconomic status is easily defined as an individuals or families’ economic and social rank based on income, education level, and occupation. The socioeconomic status of black families does affect their children’s academic success, however; it does not determine their children’s success. This educational disadvantage for black students needs to be addressed because of the lack of financial and emotional support that minority students receive due to their parents lack of experience and knowledge with higher education. Many black students become a product of their environment because

Caucasian students as well as those that come from upper-class families, tend to be overrepresented (Kim, Y. K., & Sax, L. J. (2009), whereas people of color, in this case, immigrants, compose 5% of the immigrants that obtain a college degree (Williams, S. , & Ferrari, J. (2015). Those from the upper-class families seek the assistance of faculty and professors,

Students from low-income and first generation backgrounds often struggle in different academic subjects. Subsequently, students have lower expectations for themselves when it comes to academic achievement. The majority of first generation students come from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Seeing that, families work countless hours in factories and other places where they are underpaid because of the lack of educational opportunity they experienced themselves. According to Blackwell and Pinder (2014) in the United States higher education is becoming the outlet to different avenues of opportunity whether it is through social mobility or economic progress. While screening out possible topics of interest for a research proposal, one of the challenges I encountered in my field experience was the lack of college access education and funding for the families in the urban high schools. The first generation student family typically is unaware of the college process because the student’s parents have not attended an institution of higher education. Therefore, the students cannot count on their knowledge of the process. Eventually, when students reach the financial aid process it becomes difficult because parents usually cannot afford full tuition expenses and at the same time do not understand the process. In these situations, schools with a college going culture can prepare staff to provide extra support to students by developing professional training in college access, mentorship

Poverty leads to insufficient opportunities, especially in college education. For instance, according to U.S. Department of Education, students who do not enter college or drop out of their classes are “predominantly persons from low-income families.” In support of this argument, the article states that “only 21 percent of those with family income of less than $25,000 were highly qualified for admission at a four-year institution” compared to the 56 percent of students with family income above $75,000. Therefore, students with bad economic conditions struggle with attending university even after entering it. The problem is that the African Americans race gets the harshest disadvantage from their poor economic conditions. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services publishes that almost 40 percent of African Americans under 18 are below the national poverty line, which is three-times higher than their white counterparts. This explicitly proves that unequal economic conditions are the main reason for inequality in education; African Americans are the most disadvantaged. Furthermore, the correlation between poor economic conditions and a lack of education among African Americans creates a chain of inequality. The poor economic backgrounds of African Americans obstruct their children from attending colleges and subsequently, the lack of higher education makes

Rendon (1994) points out “students from underrepresented backgrounds often experience isolation, a lack of self-efficacy, and a lack of a sense of belonging in college contexts”(p. 48). Furthermore, one needs to take it one step back and realize that most students of color are much more likely to attend schools where most of their peers are poor or low-income. Therefore, socio economic status (SES) determines the education a person receives throughout K-12. Walpole (2004) also describes how “low SES parents are more likely to define success as a secure full-time job after graduating from high school. College attendance is not an expectation and often means enrolling in a community college or technical school when it does occur” (p. 47). When a student reaches the

In their article “The Upside of Income Inequality” authors Gary Becker and Kevin M. Murphy argue that the solution to income inequality is to have more and more students attend and graduate from colleges. Becker and Murphy imply that students from “broken households” earn lower grades and test scores, therefore reducing their chances at entering and staying enrolled in colleges due to subpar cognitive skills. Throughout the article, charts are shown to show promising statistics of students of all ethnicities being successful in colleges. However they later state:

Obtaining a degree remains one of the most important pathways to economic and social class in the United States (U.S.), regardless of rising tuition costs and the value of having a higher education coming in to question. Of the 20.6 million students enrolled in a college or university, first-generation college students represents about one-third (The Institute for Higher Education Policy, 2012). These group of individuals are more likely to encounter academic, financial, professional, cultural, and emotional difficulties (Sanez, Hurtado, Barrera, Wolf, and Yeung, 2007).

The researchers wanted to explore the idea that the “American system of higher education is widely regarded as an engine of social mobility that provides equal opportunities to all deserving students, irrespective of their previous background, upbringing, or life circumstances (Stephens, Fryberg, Markus, Johnson & Covarrubias, 2012) and compare it to the reality of the rise of first-generation college students who are from interdependent working class families attending institutions who focus on norms of independence. It has

Jay Matthews presents a different view on college admission in his article Multiplying Benefits of College for Everybody by showing the positive impact college has had on many, specifically low-income women, to make a statement on how important equal opportunities are. Matthews says, “at the moment only about a third of American adults have graduated from college, and the economy appears to have room for many more” (143). Matthews also points out that “millions of low-income Americans, their data demonstrate, have the ability to use college to acquire new skills and capabilities that improve their lives, and their children’s lives, in significant ways” and that “higher education… still is one of

Today in society the determination for a college degree lies beyond education towards future financial security. While college debt seems to be ever increasing, students from low-income families are less likely to attend college due to the financial hardship. The social class that a student’s family falls into shows correlation on whether that student will or not attend college (Peske & Haycock, 2006). However, looking at this issue from my own prospective it seems as though no matter the social class students are attending college. What more so seems to have an affect on outcomes for individuals is how there family’s social economic status effects how well a student performs in college. For a student from a low-income family nothing can seem more daunting than the overwhelming amount of debt we have to pay after college.

As a student from a working-class background, I did not have access to the type of cultural capital needed to gain upward social mobility. For example, I come from a family that has had no formal education beyond high school and so I was without the knowledge of how to gain access into the realm of higher education. My family had never gone through the application process and so they did not know how to access and utilize the college help that my school provided. Also, my high school only had fourteen counselors available to provide assistance to the 4,263 students that attended the school (Illinois Report Card 2010). This counselor-to-student ration meant that not much time could be devoted to each student to give them the help they needed to navigate the complex college application system (Civil Rights Data 2009, Illinois Report Card 2010). During my time in high school, I never actually spoke to any of the counselors about college plans and I was not even aware that they could help in that area. In the following sections I detail how the cultural capital borrowed or learned from scholarship programs and cultural mentors ultimately impact a student’s upward mobility most.

Seventy-four percent of students in the top 146 colleges in America come from the top quarter of socioeconomic societies while only three percent come from the bottom quarter (Wickenden 2). This statistic shows that low-income families in America do not have much of a chance for admission into these prestigious universities. Why is that so? Should prestigious universities lower their admission standards for these underprivileged students? Yes, Ivy League Schools should lower their admission standard for students coming from low-income families.

It is beyond doubt that one’s decision to attend college will be influenced by what one knows about college. Everything one learns originates from the social institutions established in his/her community, and hence, one will have to consider various factors embedded within the society before making the decision to attend college. A society in which both parents in the family setup did not attend college is likely to have many first-generation students. Such students have been shown to be at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to enrolling and completing postsecondary education. Despite the significant rates with which college enrolment varies in regard to the parents’ education levels, first generation students usually come from low-income

In today 's world where the population, especially of the United States, is growing gloriously diverse, institutions of higher education must also reflect this aspect in their student body. The purpose of colleges and universities is to provide students with the education and experience they need to succeed after graduating as well as expand their thoughts and perspectives. Thus, they must create and maintain a similar environment in which students will live and work in the future. Although diversity has been emphasized as a priority for many schools, socioeconomic diversity is often disregarded. However, socioeconomic diversity plays an important role in developing the perspectives and minds of students. Thus, it is essential for the admission offices, especially of prestigious universities like the University of Pennsylvania, to recruit and admit more economically disadvantaged students as well as for the schools to meet the needs of and maintain those students.