Samira Abdi 

ENG 1102

Professor Weaver

04/26/2022 

 

INTRODUCTION

Low-income families do not only have to worry about learning the material but think about the funds for the material. This research project examines families’ financial insecurities when it comes to paying for school.  Paying for a school shortens the ability for an individual to attend the school that they desire. In the Challenges Low Income Families Face When Paying for College by Ismael Camara, the author states,” It is to show that most low income students in America are not even able to go to the colleges of their dreams due to the lack of financial aid, and the fact that attending these colleges would lead to their families having to take on more stress financially compared to middle and high income families.” (Camara, Sample page 1) Attending college opens up financial struggles that families were not even aware of, but are forced to deal with. The purpose of this research paper is to address and explain why low-income families face such financial hardships during and after their college experiences?

 

DISCUSSION

 

 In The New York Times magazine author Anthony Jack discusses “When I was learning to chart the hungry days on my calendar, I was one of the nearly 40 percent of undergraduates who struggle with food insecurity. Before all else, colleges must meet students’ basic needs — it is hard to focus and function when you’re hungry.”( Jack, Interactive) Financial dilemmas are not the only problems to come up after paying for college. With this it is a cause and effect. Paying or trying to pay for a semester leads to not being able to pay for life necessities. Such as eating, having a place to stay, and etc. 

Attending a normal college semester can cost up to a thousand to two thousand dollars and this is only one semester. For the family and especially the student this becomes the only thing that you need to address. This would oftentimes lead up to racking up debt. The article on the marketplace discusses a family who talks about the debt that piles up. In the article, author Samantha Fields states that” roughly 70% of American students end up taking out loans to go to college. The average graduate leaves school with around $30,000 in debt and all told, some 45 million Americans owe $1.6 trillion in student loans — and counting.” ( Fields) This goes to say that college is not cheap at all.

This is an important topic to discuss because of how normal it is for a family to not have the funds to support the tuition that a school has. Obtaining the funds is not easy and pathways should be paved for families to help pay that money faster. With problems, there needs to be a solution to help eliminate the problem. Low-income families need help overcoming this financial obstacle. Author Anna Helhoski helps gather solutions on what we can do to help with existing and upcoming debt. In the article What Would It Take to Solve the Student Debt Crisis? By Anna Helhoski, Helhoski gives solutions that can help.

“Forgive the Student Debt”- Which would be the government just forgiving current students who have debts.

“Streamline existing forgiveness programs”- This would not be a definite solution or a temporary solution. This would help students who borrow qualify.

“Make college tuition-free”- This would be an efficient way to stop debt because there wouldn’t be anything to pay. It wouldn’t limit debt completely but would immensely change the outcome one has to pay to attend school.

 

 

One can think that a low-income family would just have to worry about the costs of the college and just paying its tuition. When in reality it leads to more problems and restricting certain aspects in your life to fit the lifestyle you need to have so you can pay for the college. It not only takes a toll on a family financially but also emotionally and mentally. Having these dilemmas can cause immense stress and a sense of duty to fulfill your tasks.  Having to pick up two to three jobs just for it not to cover a fraction displays how we as a society don’t do enough to support these families. These individuals have just the same willingness to learn as students who can afford to attend these colleges. The only thing in their way is finding the money to pay for it . In the article, Poverty’s Long-Lasting Effects on Students’ Education and Success by Kelley Taylor, Taylor states,”It does not have to be this way [for low-income students]. Across the country, there are schools that teach us every day that these children absolutely can achieve at the same high levels as anybody else,” she says, adding that to change the status quo, however, everyone involved “has to organize around that mission.”( Taylor)Presented this opportunity our students can prosper and do bigger and better things but we as a society have to help them.

 

The students who can’t afford to pay for schooling are only increasing and school tuition is only increasing. One can conclude that these families do need help. We have to determine what we can do to help these families attend a four year schooling without worrying what their next meal or where they are sleeping tonight will be. Extending our help will not only be better for this generation but the rest to come. Let’s help these students because we can easily be or become them.

 

CITATION

Camara, Ismael. “The Challenges Low Income Families Face When Paying For College” The Global North Carolina Gallery,

https://localculturesglobalforces2018.web.unc.edu/2018/04/the-challenges-low-income-families-face-when-paying-for-college/. Accessed April 23 2022.

 

Jack, Anthony. “I Was a Low-Income College Student. Classes Weren’t the Hard Part” The New York Times,  Magazine.https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/10/magazine/college-inequality.html . Accessed April 23 2022.

 

Fields, Samantha. “70% of college students graduate with debt. How did we get here?” Marketplace,https://www.marketplace.org/2019/09/30/70-of-college-students-graduate-with-debt-how-did-we-get-here/ . Accessed April 25 2022.

 

Helhoski, Anna.” What Would It Take To Solve the Student Debt Crisis” Nerdwallet, https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/student-loans/what-would-it-take-to-solve-the-student-debt-crisis . Accessed 25 2022.

 

Taylor, Kelley.”Poverty’s Long-Lasting Effects on Students’ Education and Success” Insight Into Diversity, https://www.insightintodiversity.com/povertys-long-lasting-effects-on-students-education-and-success/ . Accessed 26 2022.