Week 13 Reading
Much of what I learned while reading Paying the Price, by Sara Goldrick-Rab, echoed what I already knew about college, becuase either I or someone I know has lived a similar expereince.
Like the students in the book, college was only made possible for me because of financial aid. Because I didn’t enroll in college until I was considered an independent adult, my family was not expected to contribute anything to my college expenses and I was able to receive the full Pell Grant. I was also received subsidized and unsubsidized loans. Although it was not expected for my family to contribute to my education, without familial support (free rent from my brother), I wouldn’t have gone to college. If I did attend, I would have only been able to attend community college part time so that I could work enough to pay rent. However, if I had worked more hours, I would have received less in Pell Grants and simply not have enrolled. However, even though I lived rent free (which is uncommon among the students I know), I still had to take loans and work in order to feed myself, buy books, and have any entertainment beyond watching TV.
My older brother is my only family member to have a college degree. Like myself, he was considered an independent adult while going to school. However, he still paid rent and anything else he needed to sustain his life. As a result, it took him 8 years to earn his bachelors degree and graduate with over $30,000 in debt. While he was in school, he skipped meals and lost an unhealthy amount of weight.
My younger brother, on the other hand, attended school while working full time. He was not considered an independent adult and our parents were expected to contribute to his educational expenses. They could not afford this expense. Although he loves learned and wants to pursue a degree, he dropped out after one semester because he knows it is impossible without taking out loans that put his future in jeopardy.
All three of our stories highlight the shortcomings of the financial aid system and echo the student’s expereinces in Paying the Price.
One inadequacy identified in the book is that the financial aid system was built with the assumption that parents have enough resources to help their children pay for college, yet the nuances of each family’s situation are generally not considered.
As the book mentions, Pell Grants were designed to expand access to college and provide opportunties to lower income families. The amount a student receives from Pell is based on their parent’s income, their own income, as well as other financial aid they receive. All of this can drastically change from term to term and make financial planning nearly impossible, especially when families don’t have a steady income.
Sophie’s experience highlights how financial changes can threaten student’s ability to graduate. Although her mom was unemployed when she began college, Sophie still had to get a job and take out loans in order to pay the full cost. When her mom finally got a job, the system assumed her mother would now be able to contribute more to her educational expenses. Her mother was only earning $35,000 per year and not able to cover Sophie’s expenses, however, the amount of money she received from the government was reduced. As a result, Sophie had to face an increased financial burden, found it difficult to participate in on campus activities and pay rent. This caused her to become a “money freak” and an increased her level of stress.
Reading Sophie’s story helped me analyze my own expereince of becoming a “money freak.” Upon transferring from to a university, I felt the need to move away from my homogenous environment to finish my degree, which landed me in Philadelphia at Temple. I still qualify for Pell Grants and federal loans, but now that I have to pay for rent (as well as out of state tuition). I have taken out large private loans each year and feel embarrassed saying the amount of debt I am in, even to my boyfriend, siblings, and parents. Like Sophie, I continually stress out about these enormous loans I will have to pay back. Matt, another student from the book, also has a relatable story. Matt couldn’t help but to think “about every bad thing that could happen” that would prevent him from graduating. Like Matt, and José, I have a lot of anxiety about not finishing school and being stuck in a place much worse than I was when I started. After reading this book, I am realizing how common this feeling is. I don’t openly talk about this and now know I’m not alone.
One of the ways to deal with the inadequacies of financial aid is to get a job. Matt got a job because he believed he “wouldn’t survive if I wasn’t working as much.” However, a job does not take care of all expenses and students are still taking out loans for their regular living expenses.
Chloe worked two jobs simultaneously during college, and because work was not close to her house, she spent almost 2.5 hours each day driving to/from work, school, and home. As a result, she was not able to practice self care by eating breakfast and getting adequate sleep. Although I never had to travel this much, I often skipped breakfast and missed out on sleep. I felt staying up late and waking up last minute in the morning was required for me to watch my neice, work in student governement, get good grades, and have any social life whatsover. For me, and many students in the book, lack of sleep and skipping meals contributed to my poor mental health. Luckily I now am in a place where I do not have to live like this — because I take out enormous student loans each year and only have to work a small amount.
Whether or not someone has to work during college drastically alters their overall social and academic expereince. I know this is the case becuase I had periods throughout college that I worked and other times I did not. When I enrolled in college, I had a casual job at a bar that didn’t require too much brain power, so I was able to go home from work and still have the mental fortitude to work on homework — this is not the case for everyone.
Later in my academic career I got a job in student governement. The nature of this job was quite different than working at a bar. I have always taken my jobs seriously and worked hard, but I felt a higher level of responsibility to ensure I was doing the job to the best of my abilities with this job. Being passionate about a job, however, takes more energy than many realize. While at home, or even during class, I was constantly reflecting on the work I was engaged in and how to continue to enhance that work. I knew that every decision I made greatly impacted student’s lives. This was a great motivator and much different than working at a bar where I could clock out and forget about everything. Not once did I go home and plan how I was going to wash dishes better moving forward — that would be a waste of time and unnecessary. Because I wanted to focus on the important work of being a student leader, and had to watch my infant niece multiple days a week in lieu of rent, I wasn’t able to enroll full time.
It was a privilege to not be enrolled full time at community college. Many of my peers were enrolled full time in addition to working 40 hours per week. I watched many of these friends experience mental health crises (that often become viscous cycles until summer break or even graduation), drink unhealthy amounts of alcohol as a coping mechanism (many are still addicts long after graduating or dropping out), feel the impact of stress on their physical health, and in a few cases, drop out of school and completely disappear. Working part time while going to school has taken a toll on my mental health as well. I can only imagine what it feels like to work full time, especially for those who have jobs in line with their career path that require a lot of mental energy.
My jobs in student government directly relate to my career path becuase I will certianly be advocating for others in any career I have. Luckily, I have been able to further this work by interning at the Oregon State Capitol and with the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. Not only have a learned many skills with these opportunities, I have build networks of potential employers, enhanced my resume, and learned more about what kind of work I want to be engaged with. This is not the case for all because each of us only have so much time and mental capacity. Free labor may be worth the experience but not all students can afford to give away free labor due to financial constraints or other aspects of life that require their time and attention.
Work Study is another way to earn an income during college. However, not all students qualify. Even those who do qualify don’t always find a job on their campus. Like one student in the book, many institutions do not provide any information about obtaining a work study position. This was certainly the case for me. I was awarded work study but did not know how to find a job on campus. I ended up finding a position, but I still don’t know if Temple has a location on the website that lists work study positions.
Even if there was a location on the website to search for work study jobs, Temple does not receive enough money to pay all students who qualify. This is common for many institutions, and according to the book, “the university of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is able to provide only about one in ten eligible students with a work-study position.” This is creates a large inequity within and between institutions and greatly impacts low income students.
Reading this book left me feeling frustrated by the system of higher education. Colleges and universities were built for the economically privileged, and as time goes on, access has been expanded. Much of this is due to Pell Grants and financial aid. However, the financial aid system is both predatory and outdated. If we want things to get better, there needs to be a much larger investment in higher education. Knowing this book exists, and has been one of the pieces of literature that create discourse necessary for this change to occur, provides me with hope that things may get better in the near future.
