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Major project 4: College and Poverty in America

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Name: The Thuy Trang Nguyen

Professor: Rebecca Weaver

Course: ENGL1102

Date: 4/21/2022

 

INTRODUCTION

The dream of college is more often than not too big for the low-income population due to the overall cost of college. However, as in society, higher education increases the chances for success by allowing one access to better job opportunities; the middle and low-income population strive to go to college and to afford it acquire loans, scholarships, and taking up part or full-time jobs to ensure they can raise enough for their upkeep and college fees. The financial toll that college takes on individuals has stirred up the discussion on the need to make college education accessible or reduce college fees to be affordable to low and middle-income individuals.

DISCUSSION

A free college education would reduce college’s financial toll on students and their families. Students’ financial lives are characterized by acquiring student loans while in college, which raises whether college is worth the effort. As highlighted by Jeff Grabeier, “When asked how they paid for their tuition, students were most likely to say either loans or scholarships and grants” (Grabeier). The government should address the difficulty people face paying for college and ensure that the opportunity for college is accessible for everyone despite their income and social class. Thanks to social stratification, the rich have more access to the most exemplary education programs. In contrast, the poor can only access the bare minimum, thus ensuring that the rich remain rich by acquiring the best jobs after the best education. In contrast, the poor maintain a cycle of missing opportunities for the cost. Making college accessible would provide a sense of equality as all one would need to acquire a college education is the academic achievement that qualifies them for college and will. This would ease the financial stress on students, that is Grabeier highlights in the statement, “Financial problems lead some students to make difficult choices, the survey found. Nearly three out of 10 students said they reduced their class load because of the money they owed, while 16 percent took a break from their college or university and 13 percent transferred to another institution” (Grabeier). Sara Goldrick mentions that the economics of college display a rise in college tuition, which is contrary to what society needs, as college tuition was already too expensive for the majority of the population. She highlights that one in ten students endure homelessness during college. A free college education would solve many of these problems students face as the little money they can raise would be directed to their upkeep and personal needs that would ensure the students can acquire a college education without the financial stress.

A free college education would ensure that young people can attain their dreams despite their socioeconomic backgrounds. Dreams are shattered too by the inability of young people to afford college tuition. To build a society that can motivate young people to be ambitious and chase their dreams, the government should ensure that college education is free. This is not to mean that free college would solve every financial problem students face, as small expenses such as housing and food can threaten students’ college careers. Financial stress presents itself in worry about general personal finances, catering for monthly payments, and debts from student loans and credit cards (Lim et al.)

Karen Weese highlights that “To a middle-income kid from a neighborhood with two cars in every garage, it may be incomprehensible that something costing less than a few burritos at Chipotle could derail a person’s college education. But for many young people across the country — growing up in homes where there’s little left after paying rent and utilities — the challenge is painfully familiar” The number one reason that low-income students drop out is financial. And often it’s a little thing, that a middle- or higher-income family wouldn’t even think twice about.” (Weese). These facts depict that raising the college tuition is a meager first step in attaining a college education as the other expenses are not as affordable for the low-income students. This is especially noted by Chris Metzler, who identifies that “A lot of people think if you give a kid a scholarship, now the kid’s set, they’ve got everything they need,” (Weese), which is an erroneous assumption as students require more than just paid tuition fee to survive in college.

Listening to the stories of low-income college students, one gathers that financial anxiety is predominant among them. With the tuition rates rising faster than inflation, financial stress and anxiety are not new to students. The money that low-income students save up to use while in college is rarely enough, and they end up depleting the capital before the semester’s completion. As students cannot increase their income or reduce expenses, they end up acquiring debt here and there. Financial anxiety causes the development of poor mental health in students and poor physical health as the amount of pressure they put on their bodies juggling academic work. Their part-time jobs take a toll on the students’ health. “schools cannot simply showcase smiling black and brown faces in their glossy brochures and students wearing shirts blaring “First Gen and Proud” in curated videos and then abdicate responsibility for the problems from home that a more diverse class may bring with them to campus. Does this entail going beyond providing tuition, room, and board? Yes. It requires colleges and universities to question what they take for granted, their students, and the institutions themselves.” (Jack) Schools should understand that when an individual comes from a low-income background, financial aid is not enough for them to succeed. This is especially highlighted by Anthony Jack in his description of his college struggles, like in the statement, “During one rough patch, I stayed home from school for a few days when we couldn’t afford all the supplies needed to carry out my science-fair experiment on bulb voltage and battery life. I developed my hypotheses, outlined my proposed methods without the materials, and had everything ready to go when we could afford the supplies” (Jack). Low-income college students should be provided with adequate access to all resources essential to their academic achievement. The primary factors such as housing and food are catered for as affording this is quite cumbersome for them to do independently.

Ultimately, a free college education would partially solve the problem of high college funds, as students would still have so much more to pay to ensure their smooth learning.  

Work Cited

Abraham Jack, Anthony. “I Was A Low-Income College Student. Classes Weren’T The Hard Part.”. The New York Times, 2019, I Was a Low-Income College Student. Classes Weren’t the Hard Part. – The New York Times (nytimes.com) .  Accessed 29 Mar. 2022.

Goldrick-Rab, Sara, “College is creating poverty” uploaded by TED, May 2019, https://www.ted.com/talks/sara_goldrick_rab_college_is_creating_poverty . Accessed 17 April 2022.

Grabeier, Jeff. “70 Percent Of College Students Stressed About Finances”. 70 Percent Of College Students Stressed About Finances, 2022, https://news.osu.edu/70-percent-of-college-students-stressed-about-finances/. Accessed 29 Mar. 2022.

Lim, HanNa et al. “Financial Stress, Self-Efficacy, And Financial Help-Seeking Behavior Of College Students”. Journal Of Financial Counseling And Planning, vol 25, no. 2, 2014, pp. 148-160., Accessed 29 Mar. 2022.

Weese, Karen. “When A Sudden, Small Expense Threatens An Entire College Career”. The Washington Post, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/01/30/college-poverty-expense-cost-dropout/ . Accessed 29 Mar. 2022.

University of Toronto

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Name: The Thuy Trang Nguyen

Professor: Rebecca Weaver

Course: ENGL1102

Date: 3/7/2022

Summary, Analysis, and Response Essay

Summary

            A good prospective student for the University of Toronto is one who knows the purpose of education. Engaging in the school under ‘UTogether’ is the guide that the university welcomes all students. The school looks forward to creating a purposeful lie for everyone who joins, making it a place of learning, thinking, and discovering. Thus, they use purpose as one of the APATSARC strategies. Also, the university has students’ news as case studies that are applicable under the Large Rhetorical strategy.

Analysis

            In the University of Toronto website, it tries to impress the viewer of the website with a robust first impression. The website designer uses the APATSARC strategy with the target for the purpose of the website. The website’s main aim is to attract more students to join and associate themselves with the activities offered by the university. Siting of the color scheme is consistent with the brand of the university. For instance, the website can be known by such color as it is incorporated. The links are clear and direct, like Current Students, Future Students, Alumni, and Visitors.

Based on how it looks, the visual design helps pass the message and tone of the website. The layout is welcoming, not overcrowded with images and texts, thus being not chaotic. Some websites would have massive walls of texts and images that would intimidate the website visitors. Thus, it has an attractive landing page before students and other website users would navigate to other sites like case studies or search engines. It encourages visiting students and prospective ones to take their time and look around on the website. Notably, there are clear navigation headings that would allow deep-diving into the site. The navigation menu, typefaces used, and page layouts are a consideration in the design of the website. Also, another key factor is color. It can affect moods. For example, the blue color is seen as welcoming and hinting that sky is the limit.

The web designers know the purpose of the university website is to use the Internet as the information source for teachers and students. Thus, education technology experts help them express concerns about the information source. The website has to mediate the correct information and updates. For instance, all events have to be updated: ‘U of T Entrepreneurship Week 2022.’ (U of T). All the upcoming events have to be accessible and any changes communicated. Most importantly, the web designers had to set critical information accessible to students. Such a strategy enables prospective students to reach out in case of any questions. Therefore, it remains prudent to available relevant information like ‘important dates’ and ‘preparing to graduate.’ (U of T). The students who would like to join the university would like to hear or find out about a university where they will get what they want in life. In the response, the website author uses credibility and character as the strategy to persuade the website viewer.

The website author also uses case studies as part of encouraging students to be part of the institution. For example, under the current students, there is a student case study whereby she had lost her father through a stroke. Thus, it helped the student launch a startup on cardiovascular screening startup. The student was inspired and set up a personal mission to mitigate the risks of cardiovascular disease. The experience is part of the case study and being part of life science as the student had to do deep research on the matter. Notably, the website author gives the narration of what the student experienced related to the condition the father went through (U OF T News).

The use of the case study helps the author put across the information on how students can effectively apply their skills. It is after they learn of the facts under their area of study that they can shift to apply them in real life. The writer is aware of how students might reflect and pursue their dreams. The student will believe in themselves and take on the skill to work on the real-life issues of society. The case study helps the author show the quality of the research. They would as much like to show the organizations of arguments in their process of analyzing the case and offering feasible solutions. Thus, the considerations of all case factors may be the onus of the website author but at the same time being a strategy to capture the audience along with the case arguments. The author knows the necessary steps that take place vital for the practice and reflection.

 Response

            I would agree to join the University of Toronto as I am convinced of the learning opportunities available. It would be very encouraging to sort out issues that I have learned and apply them in real life. I find the university being a hub with the activities around the campus. With the strategy that it represents itself from the website, there is much information that would make me join the university. I find the discovery and innovative levels with many expectations. The statement, ‘be part of University of Toronto global footprint’ is welcoming either being a current student or a future student. Moreover, I find the opportunities available very overwhelming. Learning at U of T would help propel my studies to another level. Joining the school would not be determined by the distance from GA. My exploring proficiency would make me go ahead and get international experiences. Learning on International Relations would need a substantial range of studies. I believe that nothing would withhold me from joining U of T. The website provides information on student society fees and the allocation each year that would enable students from far be willing to join. It encourages me to feel part of the community with such steps, thus not feeling alone as but part of the system.

Work Cited

University of Toronto (U of T). (n.d). https://www.utoronto.ca/, Accessed 6 Mar. 2022. 

Meet Amayah Jones

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I had very interesting conversations with my Profile Partner about our Academic Self topic.  She is a very friendly and kind person. Her name is Amayah Jones – an 11th grader and freshman at GSU. Before that, Amayah attended K-4 in Miami, then she moved on to New York and eventually moved to Georgia. Amayah is currently in Early College or dual enrollment program because her school is connected to this GSU campus. Her major is Biology. As far as I know, she will go back to College right after graduating from K-12. Surgeon is her career goal because she loves science.

Photo of Amayah Jones taken by her mother

She said that her three “academic self” words are: Determined, Resilient and Eager. Through these 3 words, I believe that she is a hard-working student and always tries her best in studying. One of Amayah’s most frustrating things about college is difficult professors . But I believe that she is a person who is determined to study no matter what. As far as I know, Amayah has made the Dean’s list recently. That proves she is a hard-working student and very self-disciplined in learning. One thing she is proud of with her academic self is her drive. She works towards learning and getting good grades no matter the obstacles.

Like other students, Amayah also has a mentor who has a profound influence on her academic self. That is her mother. Amayah’s mom is her biggest influence. She can talk to her about anything and inspires her to be great. She has a master’s in business and is an author as well as a realtor. That is the reason why Amayah studies so well and always tries her best. Her mom is such a wonderful and talented person. Amayah also said that she really wants to be as determined as her mother.

Her favorite reading so far was College is creating poverty. I think this video is really interesting as it talks about another aspect of going to College. The new economics of college are creating poverty. Hunger, even homelessness, are holding students back. Higher education finance must be rethought so students aren’t punished for pursuing education.

Thus, I think a College student needs to have determined, resilient and eager like her. Those are the factors that help us succeed in our academic self.  After the interview, I learned a lot of useful things from her.

 

Work Cited

Jones, Amaya. Personal Interview. Conducted by Trang Nguyen, January 2022.

Goldrick-Rab, Sara. “College is creating poverty” TED, May. 2019, https://www.ted.com/talks/sara_goldrick_rab_college_is_creating_poverty