Income Inequality In Higher Education

Brittany LamberthProfessor Wells English 102June 15, 2018Paul Krugman, agrees that the country is becoming economically diverse bit by bit. The middle ground amongthe richest and poorest is vanishing, and inequality is`widespread. His essay, “Confronting inequality” revealsonly how inequalityaffects us, but, as McClelland opposes, how recurringinequality can be. He references a study performed by the National Center for Education informationfrom the 1988 to 2003, in which eighth grade students were arrangedboth by academic skilland the socioeconomic rankof their parents, and the college graduation percentage. If our educational system truly gave all students equivalentopportunities, then we would expect the graduation rates to depend onlyon

In this paper, I will explore the aspects regarding racial inequality pertaining to education in the United States of America. It has come to my attention, based on my observations, that race is a definitive factor that plays a role in establishing socioeconomic status. In relation to socioeconomic status, variables correlating with race that I will be focusing on, is the educational and wealth aspects. An individual’s level of education is pivotal to establishing stable, consistent wealth and vice-versa; the access for quality education is inconsistent primarily among minority races/ethnicities. According to historical records ranging from the year 1980 to 2000, between Whites, Hispanics, African-Americans, and Native Americans, the educational attainment gap is widening (Kelly 2005). Education is seen to be a source of respect and key to gaining a higher income, which transfers over to greater wealth. Acknowledging the slow expansion of the educational attainment disparities, I argue that the society’s perceptions and actions addressing race perpetuates and produces social inequalities by limiting opportunities despite “equal” resources, privileges, and rights through social policies that have contributed towards the quality of America’s education system.

is through socioeconomic status. According to Sean Reardon, a main outcome of the widening income gap for families has been a widening gap in achievement among children, which he refers to as the income achievement gap (Reardon, 2011). Therefore, the children of the poor remain at an educational disadvantage when their parents’ income becomes as much of a predictor of their educational achievements, as their parents’ educational obtainment. To emphasize the results of the income achievement gap, Reardon states, “As the children of the rich do better in school, and those who do better in school are more likely to become rich, we risk producing an even more unequal and economically polarized society” (Reardon, 2011, p. 111). For example, as standardized testing shifted towards standardized achievement testing to determine a student’s academic achievement, parental investment in their children’s cognitive development began to increase. Educational disparities occur when affluent families can very easily afford tutoring outside of the classroom for their children to perform highly, while children being raised in impoverished homes are at a disadvantage, and at a lower chance of doing well on these exams. This becomes problematic when SAT reading, math, and writing scores increase with income as exemplified by the disproportionately small amount of minority students in higher education (Brand lecture,

Despite the fact that hourly wages for college educated people are decreasing,”college educated in 2000 were $22.75, but that dropped almost a full dollar.”(C) ,the wage gap between college graduates and those with only a high school diploma has in fact increased.”(D) Last year the gap reached 83 percent.” The gap is bigger than it has ever been , making the option of going to college better than it was before.

Many people are confused on why to invest time and money of attending college. A reason for obtaining a higher education is that a college degree can possibly earn a much higher salary than the majority of the people who have a high school diploma. College can be expensive and time consuming for the most of the people that do not have enough money and spare time to go to college. Stephen Rose, a research professor at the Georgetown University, wrote an article on “The Value of a College Degree” to explain if a college degree can be valuable to people to have. Eleni Karageorge, an author on the United States Department of Labor, wrote an article “Is A College Degree Still Worth It?” to give some details on job occupations that compares with employees having a bachelor’s degree or a high school diploma on how much they annually make on their job. Finally, Paul E. Barton, a consultant and a writer for topics related on education, wrote an article “How Many College Graduates Does the U.S. Labor Force Really Need?” on giving details on how valuable to have a college degree in the near future are needed when certain occupations are on high demand with a requirement on having a least a bachelor’s degree. We need to know why going to college is so important for anyone who wants to have professional occupations.

The type and level of the school, the chosen major, and the cost of the college are all greatly defined dimensions. Data from a Baccalaureate and Beyond Survey calculated that the only difference between the earnings for a bachelor’s degree and a high school graduate’s lifetime earnings is the degree itself. Additionally, private school students may earn more in a lifetime, but will end up paying more for admission. Although they are making more earnings, their opportunity costs are much higher, making their return on investment lower. Selection of one’s major acts in this same way. The authors explain that the major that is paid the highest is “engineering, followed by computers and math. The lowest paid major… is education, followed by the arts and psychology

The article America’s Broken Bootstraps begins by talking about families being primary transmitters of human capital.Stating that families have the most influence by far, on a child's academic and vocational success. All education favors middle and upper class born children. Also, how economic growth has made a large gap by increasing society’s complexity. Achievement more now than before relies on having the right knowledge. People who were born in a certain class typically remain within their

Leonhardt says “Americans with four ­year college degrees made 98 percent more an hour on average in 2013 than people without a degree.” According to the statistics of the past thirty years, he came to the conclusion that if there were more college graduates, the pay gap would shrink. The national income inequality has a lot to do with the American’s education level.

An important factor in the creation of inequality is variation in individuals’ access to education (Becker, et. Al, 2007). According to Bosworth et. Al, (1999) education in a field that requires or demand a high number of workers, creates high wages for those with advance education. As a result, those who are unable to afford good quality education or choose not to participate in schools or colleges, generally receive much lower wages and thus it lowers aggregate savings and investment. In particular, the increase in family income and wealth

Degrees of Inequality: How the politics of higher education sabotaged the American Dream is a well-written and well-researched book that helps readers explore the intricacies of higher education policy while allowing them to discover how the policyscape has furthered inequality and enhanced classism in America (Mettler, 2014). The text itself is empirical in nature, and is the culmination of eight years-worth of mixed-methods research. According to the “Acknowledgement” and “Notes” sections of the book, Mettler, the researcher, author, and American Institutions professor at Cornell University, conducted interviews, document analyses, and statistical analyses for this study. Statistical graphs from sources like the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) and the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are embedded throughout the text along with a masterfully woven comprehensive history of higher education that not only supports Mettler’s data and arguments, but also enhances the book’s readability.

The most common issue that is upcoming in North America is education. A rising issue is dealing with the education of low-income children. For the community an education is a rising issue among individuals who are below the poverty line. The correlation with children from lower income families and their struggle to achieve an education. The government should see this as a necessity to provide students who are from a low –income family with the required services/programs to achieve their goals.

Over the last several decades, income inequality regarding wealth has grown substantially within the United States. For example, the income share of just the top one half of the top 1 percent grew from 5.39 percent of the nation’s income in 1979 to 13.37 in 2010. The reasons of increased inequality across the nation can be blamed on numerous factors such as deteriorating institutions like unions, employment protection regulations, decline in real value of the minimum wage, and globalization have played some role. However, the major driving force behind the changes in the U.S. wage structure is advances in technology. Technical change favors more educated workers, replaces tasks previously performed by the unskilled, and increases the demand

What grade would America receive for our education system? America would probably get a D because we cannot provide everyone with the same quality education as other public schools, private, and charter schools. Education is important in all countries especially in America, but there is so much educational inequality that everyone does not get an equal opportunity at a good education. This can be due to the location and income of families that can determine how successful they are going to be in school. The government has attempted to increase graduation rates by implementing new laws and standards that have actually in time proven to be unsuccessful. This essay is going to highlight the educational inequality in America,

The gap in college education between working and upper classes offers some explanation for the shift in earnings, as New York Times economics journalist David Leonhardt explains, "College graduates have received steady pay increases over the past two decades,

In this article, Cruz explores the role of education and how it can improve the mobility of the economy. More specifically, he examines the economic inequalities in the United States, noting about 40% of Americans only take home about 11.8 percent of their earnings. This information connected the importance to a college education and the need to increase the number of college graduates. Cruz concludes that the only way to decrease income inequality in America is to improve higher education and increase attainability for all individuals. On the contrary, this article appeared to provide subjective and bias information because it focused highly on relaying the importance on inaction not being an option for institutions and governing agencies.