This paper will investigate what the choice to attain a bachelor’s degree means for the total income of those who grew up in poverty. In order to graduate from college, one must obtain a high school diploma (or equivalent), choose to enter college, and persist through graduation. Trends in the research that has currently been done related to this topic illustrates that typically, it is much less likely for those who come from low income families to attend college at all, and when they do choose to attend college, they are less likely to graduate than those who do not grow up poor. There is also great amounts of research that express that people are very likely to end up living in the same socioeconomic class as their parents. Through the work …show more content…
The data presented consistently shows that educational ability has very little to do with the background that one comes from, and yet, people that grow up in poverty are still much less likely to complete college, even if they chose to initially attend college (Duncan 101). The research presented suggests that the number one indicator in their data for one’s college success is the income of their family. Though the data in this book provides valuable background information regarding the realities of those who grow up poor and their educational outcomes, it does not provide information on the incomes of college graduates who grew up in poverty. The book, From Parents to Children: The Intergenerational Transmission of Advantage by John Ermisch, Markus Jantti, and Timothy Smeeding concludes that youth in the United States whose families fall in the bottom quintile income distribution are 28% less likely to attend college than those in the top three quintiles (Ermisch 40). This book also illustrates that youth whose parents attended college are much more likely to attend college themselves. This trend can be widely seen in research regarding this topic. Both of these books show the importance of the income of one’s family in their education attainment and achievement. The …show more content…
One point that is brought up is the idea of the middle class. Middle class (or higher) areas get better public school funding than lower class areas, primarily because funding for schools is primarily based on property taxes of those living in the area (Dobratz, 125). This suggests that schools that are situated in middle/upper class neighborhoods have the resources to hire better trained teachers and counselors and have better facilities. If a student attends a school with more resources, they may get more exposure at a young age to the importance of post-secondary education, how to navigate college, and even how to apply for college (due to having better trained counselors, and more resources to present to students about college). This has the possibility to give middle/upper class students a leg-up in college from lower class students before they even begin
Tuition and finances are among the most commonly inquired topics regarding college. Socioeconomic status, one’s social and economic position within society, directly and indirectly influences the ability to attend college. It directly relates to the financial aspect of higher education. One explanation for this is the human capital theory, which suggests a negative correlation exists between parents’ income and educational level and the amount of student loan debt their
Harley who is fifteen lives with his grandmother since his mother is currently in prison, he also smokes cigarettes and has a bad anger management problems also making it difficult for him to stay in school. All three of these adolescents struggles with isolation, broken families, and a lack of opportunity, creating the ideal picture of growing up poor in America.
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.
The first determinant of one’s fate is their family’s background. Almost none of the children from low-income families made it through college. With the expenses of college today, I’m actually not surprised by that statistic. Of the children from low-income families, only 4 percent had a college degree at age 28, compared to 45 percent of the children from higher-income backgrounds. "That 's a shocking tenfold
In the article, “Low-Income Students Seeking the Education They Need to Move Up,” Emily Yount writes about the way that poverty affects people entering higher education. In her story, a girl named Chelsea is a single mom trying to get her education, and the path is difficult for her. In this paper, I will discuss both my mother and Chelsea and show the ways that it is mainly the single moms that struggle the most in this society. Regardless if you’re rich or poor, your economic status always is important. A student’s economic status has a great impact and can affect her depending on the decisions she makes.
However, when a student wants to attend college after high school, the chances of going to any school of his or her choice can seem unfair and have unequal opportunity to other peers. Unfortunately the idea of being limited to attending certain schools has a big influence in chances of becoming successful. Even though higher educations seems to have a direct path for high wages, the access to college can have reverse effects on intergenerational mobility. By limiting access from someone in a bottom percentile to have the possibility to attend a good college harms their upward mobility. In efforts to help breakdown an understanding of how education affects intergenerational mobility, a study called Mobility reports cards show significant findings. Mobility reports cards were conducted by collecting administrative data from more then thirty million college students in the years of 1999-2013. “We obtain rosters of attendance at all Title-IV accredited institutions of higher education in the U.S using de-identified data from federal income tax returns combined with data from the National Student Loan Data System. We obtain information on students’ earnings in early adulthood and their parents’ incomes from tax records.”
With the growing importance of higher education, more people than ever are attending college. According to a middle-class parent, “[Higher education] seen as a means of developing a career and getting secure employment.” (30, Higher Education, social class and social mobility) Moreover, “parents believe that their children need a university education to get on in life… over the past decades (parents) fearful that without a degree their children will be in danger of downward social mobility. (32, Higher
The socioeconomic status of an individual’s parents has always been one of the clear-cut forecasters of the individual’s academic success and educational accomplishment. The correlation between family socioeconomic uniqueness and student accomplishment is one of the most forceful patterns in educational scholarship; however the reasons and means
In " Free College Doesn't Fix Everything,” Richard Reeves, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. Said that Community colleges in the United States can, in theory, provide an important service. not everyone has the same opportunity to earn a bachelor's degree. Most high school students from rich families will end the university, some of humble origin will join them. At this time, the system of institutions in the United States serves to reinforce inequality from generation to generation, rather than reduce it. However, some students do not get into college, or do not finish their studies, and this is not only economically-financial situation is also due to the weakness that has America in education. However,
“Kids who are the first in their families to brave the world of higher education come on campus with little academic know-how and are much more likely than their peers to drop out before graduation” (1). Many people believe that school isn’t for everyone, and whoever goes is privileged for doing so. Countless people in the world today do not attend college, and this is mainly due to an influence of those in their family. Perhaps they are unsupportive of higher education, their parents and family members may view their entry into college as a break in the family system rather than a continuation of their schooling and higher learning. Most of the first-generation students decide to apply to colleges, because they aspire to jobs which require degrees. However, unlike some students whose parents have earned a degree, they often seek out college to bring honor to their families, and to ensure they make a decent amount of money for their future.
Students from all over the United States are told all through their life that they need to attend college if they ever want to be successful, however, this is far from the truth. Often schools are culprits for driving students to attend money driven colleges, in other cases it is family. While schools all too often make the push on students to continue their schooling, parents can cause the same situation, as they may not have a degree and be working a low-paying factory job. Now kids already don’t want to be like their parents when they get older, so seeing them suffer in poverty or barely above the poverty line can cause some dissatisfaction, further seeking a degree to live a life that they never got. What many
“Low class” families usually aren’t able to afford college. Their income is very low, and hard to afford some needs. Most colleges help them because they want them in their school. Radford was interested in the college choices of ambitious and high-performing high school students from different class backgrounds”(Lisa Wade). “Middle class” families can usually afford college. They make pretty good income. Usually have two or more cars. Can afford getting their kids in college. “High class” families can afford college. They usually have a lot of money. Also most likely they have a big house, and more than two cars for sure. They shouldn’t have any issues paying for tuitions. Most high class kids have no trouble getting into college because they are confident they will get accepted. “They also felt more confident that they’d be successful at such an institution; less affluent students were more intimidated by these schools”(Lisa
I did not realize until about the 5th grade, what being poor was all about. From kindergarten until then, kids didn’t really pay attention to what you wore to school, what type of home you lived in, or what your parents did for a living. What mattered was how nice you were, that you shared your toys, and took turns on the playground.
She would have never thought that life would turn out like this. Growing up as one of the rich kids she always thought that being poor was a life-choice, that poor people were just lazy or uneducated and that this would be the reason for them to end up on the streets. Now she knew better. Being poor was not a choice. Everything could change in a heartbeat.
In the United States and in countries all over the world, poverty has extreme impacts on a