Paying The Price

Paying The Price

Adult nonfiction
"There is a new economics of college in America. In the past,
students and families who worked hard stood a real chance of attaining
a college degree, a ticket to the good life. But then the world
changed. Today, the promise of a college degree in exchange for hard
work and dedication no longer holds true. Instead, students encounter
a price so high that it has changed what it means to attend college."
One of American meritocracy's most beloved images is that of the
intelligent and dilligent student of humble origins making it through
college on grants, work study, and maybe a small loan which would be
easy to pay off when the diploma paved the way to a respectable
career. The image is so entrenched that we can't shake it out of our
heads. People who earned their degrees in the far more financially
stable 60s are grumbling, "I did it. Why can't or won't they?" A
narrative is being created of a younger generation that goes to school
to party, is unwilling to work hard, and wants everything handed to
them on a silver platter or platinum credit card.
There's a loud and growing chorus of "What's wrong with kids
today?"
Temple University professor, Sara Goldrick-Rab says that,
although students don't always make the best individual choices,
collectively they are not the source of the problem. In Paying The
Price she shows how America has changed drastically and financial aid
has failed to keep up with the costs of higher education. Some of the
facets of this crisis that she shines a light on are:
Financial aid is built around the 60s era family of two still
married parents with stable, well-paying jobs. Where to start? A lot
of students grow up in single parent homes. Parents' jobs are
increasingly precarious and unpredictable. Often not only are they
unable to contribute to their children's education, but they need the
kids to pitch in so they can keep a roof over their heads and food on
the table.
Financial aid offers are often based on gross underestimates of
how much a year of college will actually cost. This is particularly
true for living expenses. This is why you find student food and/or
housing insecurity and actual homelessness at institutions ranging
from Ivy League to community college. They are also based on their
estimation of expected parental contribution which is often much more
than parents can contribute.
Very few students have access to class schedule friendly work
study jobs. Many communities have a dearth of off campus part time
jobs. Often available jobs have students working unpredictable
schedules that really mess up class attendance and academic help
seeking or working night shifts that don't allow for enough sleep. It
can be quite the struggle to balance maintaining satisfactory academic
progress with earning enough to get by.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. In Paying The Price
Goldrick-Rab shows us the whole ugly structure that sends so many
students' hopes and best efforts the way of the Titanic.
"Financial aid today is a pale shadow of what its creators
intended. Rather than support the hopes and dreams of people who seek
to study and get ahead through higher education, it is punitive. It
acts as an enticement to try college but then sets up students to face
prices they cannot meet year after year...it is an invitation to debt."
Fortunately, Goldrick-Rab doesn't see the current sorry state of
affairs as set in stone. She ends the book with a discussion of what
can be done to change the current inequities--a task that she
considers to be nothing less than a moral imperative.
"The new economics of college is undermining the fundamental
connection between education and democracy that has helped our nation
thrive...With economic insecurity on the rise and low-income and
middle class Americans under pressure, this generation must meet the
challenge of making one of the best ways out of poverty and into the
middle class--a college education--affordable for all."
On a purrrsonal note, Penobscot County and actually all of Maine are
in the middle of what National Public Radio (not one for hype) is
calling a monster storm and a powerful nor'easter. Really high winds
are whipping snow. The doors are already blocked. So Lady T and I
are snowed in. I did my studying first thing in the morning for in
case we lose power which is a strong possibility. We're expecting a
foot of the white stuff. Eugene is out plowing. I just hope he gets
a little time between day and night shifts to eat a hot supper and get
a few hours sleep. (Jules)
Who ordered all this white stuff? (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to Eugene and his colleagues who are
blizzard battling and all essential workers who have to go out into
the mess. If you can and live where the monster storm is going on
please stay home.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway



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