Socioeconomic Impact On Education

The ideas of equal opportunities that America was built on has been lost and replaced with a structure of education only being accessible for the wealthy. College tuition is a topic that is on every high school and college student's mind. As tuition costs are constantly rising more college students will face the sticker shock of acquiring a secondary education. Unfortunately, college costs do not just end at tuition and room and board people also have to pay for textbooks, meals, and transportation. The cost of college has become outrageous and students are leaving college with high amounts of debt.

There is no escaping the fact that the cost of college tuition continues to rise in the United States each year. To make it worse, having a college degree is no longer an option, but a requirement in today’s society. According to data gathered by the College Board, total costs at public four-year institutions rose more rapidly between 2003-04 and 2013-14 than they did during either of the two preceding decades (Collegeboard.com). Students are pressured to continue into higher education but yet, the increasing costs of books and tuition make us think about twice. Sometimes, some of these students have to leave with their education partially finished, leaving them with crushing debts. It is important to find the means to prevent these

A major problem for today’s high school graduates is the rising price in college education. Attending college can add up really fast; it can cost up to tens of thousands of dollars per year (Barkan 1). No wonder, in Steven Barkan’s book of social problems, issues and problems in higher education take up a full chapter. In this chapter, Barkan states that only 44% of all students who attend a four-year institution is lucky enough to have annual tuitions and fees amount to less than $9,000 per year. The aggravating question is, “why does college cost so much?” Not only is tuition part of the cost of college but also fees housing and meals, books, school supplies, and accessories (“What’s the Price Tag” 1). All tuition covers is the money for academic instruction. Fees are charges for specific services such as, internet access, and then the cost of books and school supplies add up. Additionally, one is not paying just for textbooks but also

The cost of American college tuitions are increasing sharply and getting out of control. The victim behind that increment is student who can’t afford paying school tuitions to get a college degree that will help to improve his/her quality of life. According to Sanford J. Ungar “The problem of costs goes beyond

Evidence shows that education is vital to increasing students’ chances of financial stability in the future; however, because of the cost of college, it is out of reach for many, or leaves students in debt after graduation; threatening countless young adults’ futures and continuing to marginalize low-income families. According to the US Department of Education, an approximate two-thirds of jobs in 2020 will require a post-secondary education (“College Affordability”). As more and more jobs require a college education, the range of jobs prospective high school graduates can enter without a college education is severely limited. In addition, there is almost always a wage gap between those who have a college education and those who do not, meaning that those who are employed in jobs without a bachelor’s or higher degree rarely earn as much (“College Affordability”). For an individual seeking a larger range of stable jobs in the future, attending college is usually necessary. However, the price of college often puts it out of reach for many students, even in middle-class families. US Census Bureau data shows that the median income of US families in 2014 was $53,657 (meaning half the population earned below this amount and half above) — but according to national educational statistics, the average cost of attending university in California, including room and board and typical fees, was $21,029 in 2013 (“Regions by Mean”; “Average Undergraduate Tuition”). For

The unattainable “American Dream” seems to be becoming even more of a fantasy as the rising costs of collegiate education deter many from pursuing higher education. Student loan debt is now creeping to an average of $30,000 and there appears to be no end to this rising number. Lower income families find themselves unable to send their children to college without a major financial impact. These kids who are hoping to get a degree of their own, to help support themselves and those they love, struggle to make ends meet as they pay off their loans. College expenses are far too expensive for students because scholarships lag behind tuition fees, the middle class struggles to receive the financial aid it needs, and universities in general believe that they can raise the price of tuition due to the increasing amount of government aid to education

College students all over the country are going through the tuition struggle, and they have every right to be angry about what they have to go through. In nearly 30 years, "tuition increased twice as fast as the overall cost of living” (Larson, 63). Just in the span of 1980 and 1990, the average cost of attending public and private university increased by 109% and 146%, ridiculously. Taking another look at these figures, a direct comparison can be made comparing them to other rises that took place in separate areas during that same given time. An example being the rise in medical care costs which was 117%, the cost of new homes rose to 90%, and the price of a new automobile went up 37%; simultaneously, middle class income only grew by 73% . The few capable of affording these ridiculous prices, are usually capable to afford to ignore them. However, the rest of us struggling individuals are forced to pinch pennies and are haunted by the desire of

David Leanhardt a correspondent for the New York Times stated in The College Dropout Boom that often times the thought of high tuition prices scare students away, especially lower-income students, before they even think about attending a college (92). And there is good reason for this. With the average four year degree costing $91,304 at public colleges and $179,000 at private universities (Merrow), tuition prices are ridiculously high. How are people expected to get an education with school costing so much? In the article Angela Whitiker’s Climb Isabel Wilkerson tells of Mrs. Whitiker’s near impossible climb out of poverty and into the upper-middle class. Ms. Whitaker, faced many struggles on her way up the ladder, but she worked hard, and eventually she wound up on top. Still through all of her hard work she could not have gotten to where she is now on her own. She needed someone to support her and her family emotionally, physically, and financially just for her to graduate with an Associate’s degree (202-16). It took a lot of time and effort for Mrs. Whitiker to get out of the place she was born into, and at times it looked like she would never get out, but she pushed forward, and lucked out. Most people don’t have the drive Mrs. Whitiker had, many students simply leave college when they begin to feel the pressure. In a study over college students, Merrow found that

The most problematic issue pertaining to the high costs of college tuition in America is that fewer students from low-income families are going to college. Unaffordable college tuition costs is proving to be driving away thousands of low income students from the opportunity to attend college. Even with an extensive range of student aid programs from the government and various private sources, students from low-income families are consistently finding themselves in a situation where they simply do not have the financial means to attend college. To put things in perspective, according to a report submitted to Congress by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance states, “Enrollment at four year colleges for low-income students decreased 14% between 1992 and 2004, as the

The cost of attending a college, university, or any other higher education institution in the United States is becoming increasingly more expensive every year. The United States ranks as third highest in the western world, only behind Mexico and Japan, for cost of college tuition and fees (Business Insider). With a growing divide between those that are wealthy and those that are working to lower class in the US, many students and their families are finding the road to a higher education more unattainable than ever before. American students are paying higher tuition and college fees today than at any other time in the history of the United States’ higher education system. The cost of higher education in the United States should be low-cost or free to any US citizen who wishes to become educated and skilled.

Higher education costs have been increasing at a rapid pace, faster than inflation for the economy as a whole, for the past fifty years. It started in the 1960’s when the federal government passed the Higher Education Act to increase the amount of people able to afford and attend college. Regardless of the Unites States Government efforts to increase the affordability of college, federal aid programs have not risen to expectations due to the ever-increasing college prices. To lower the price of college, the government needs to cut back on student financial spending to go only to the lowest income families and create tax incentives for families to start saving up on their own.

Today colleges are growing more and more necessary for attaining a solid path towards a successful career, yet the rapidly increasing cost of tuition is driving students away from their dream of attending college, due to the preposterous amount of money that is now being demanded by colleges across the nation and world as a whole. It is sad to see students being turned away from a successful future due to the money-hungry nature of the universities that dot the globe. More and more impossible it is becoming to have a “rags-to-riches” scenario that used to highlight the American Dream, as if a student doesn’t have the riches to afford a higher education and the tuition that is drug upon its coattails, then our society is doomed to be clothed in rags forever, unless major changes are brought about to restructure and end the indefatigable growth of tuition rates across the board.

By studying generations of students, sociologists have found that while education is typically thought of as a way for students to gain knowledge and transcend the socioeconomic class they came from, it often replicates existing inequalities. Education can reproduce inequalities by valuing certain social class habits and mannerisms more than others, and by valuing credentials that aren’t equally available to all students.

Is the correlation between social class and educational success truly acknowledged in America?  When Mantsios, in “Class in America,” asks, the question, “Which of these gifts might a high school graduate in your family receive, a corsage, a savings bond or a BMW” (304), he makes the point that definite socio-economic separations exist in our society. This separation has a direct effect on our educational success. He proves this by presenting myths and facts about the United States social classes. One study concludes that fewer than one in five people move out of their socio-economic status in which they are born (316). This is in direct relationship to the education they receive.

Cornerstones that divide social classes are occupations, education and incomes and wealth. The root of all three divisions in this writer opinion is education. With or without a formal education on average will clump people with similar attainment and create economic commonality or attainment. Having a formal or extended education is not always means for discernable division, but “status groups emerge among people with similar incomes, occupations, and educations” (Marger, 2014, p. 55). Similar behaviors, beliefs and values are expressed relatively to a point with social mobility. Extended or the attainment of higher educational levels are linked to social esteem and provide privileges that accompany the corresponding education. As a person attains more education, they essentially displace themselves farther from the lower classes and less paying positions. This could generate inequalities and division of classes. “the possession of the means of production is one of the most important sources of power and stratification in society” (Lavrentsova, 2010, p. 257). In contrast, with contemporary societies characteristics like educational level, profession, appearance, manners and lifestyle become much more important in determining the personal social status.