College education, once seen as a right for all people, is now moving away from those who cannot afford it. With rising tuition and disparity appearing early in life, something must be done to ensure that higher education is available for everyone.
Across selective state universities in New York, California, Michigan, Illinois and Colorado, 40 percent of students are coming in with families making over $100,000, compared to only 32 percent just five years ago. In high-end private universities, only about 10 percent of students come from families making below the median household income. It is an extremely disturbing trend that is going to worsen unless dealt with.
The problem is based on several things. The easiest to combat is high tuition. Some schools, like Harvard, completely subsidize all tuition for low-income students. The TAP program is similar, but obviously covers a smaller tuition.
Unfortunately, as Walter Michaels wrote in last week's New York Times Magazine, "it's bound to be seen a little beside the point to the great majority of the poor, since what's keeping them out of elite universities is not their inability to pay the bill but their inability to qualify for admissions in the first place."
The disparity that exists from test preparation courses and different high schools also must be dealt with. Students even in Buffalo will be much better off if their parents can afford private schools instead of the basic public education. The public schools are vastly under-funded in terms of staff and resources, something that could hinder even the brightest students.
This institutional problem will not simply be fixed by letting more poor children in so that they can get rich and send their kids to private schools. In the key development years, schools have to be more of a focus, even if that includes regionalized property tax raises and sharing. When a child's choices are limited because of their parents, someone must step in.
If going to a better school was not enough of an advantage, the availability of test prep courses is also expensive and limited to richer students. The solution is either to stop or severely reduce using standardized testing as a way of evaluating students or let poor students use the same route of funding for tuition in order to pay for some of those classes.
Picking the poor up through educational measures will raise their future income, which will create even more funding for schools and trickle down continually, making some of these programs unnecessary. A wide-ranging income-based affirmative action deserves consideration on every level, as well as doing away with legacy based admissions.
There is no greater calling for a society than to ensure all of its youth are educated equally and have all the necessary opportunities to succeed. Over the last five years, that ability has systematically oozed away. A restoration of those ideals, at the local, state and federal level is absolutely essential for a positive future.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
