Students from Low Income Backgrounds and Higher Education

This was my 500 word answer for a recent job application. 

Why do you think more students from low-income communities do not attend college?

Though this question merits an answer that covers a long history of political and societal limitations placed on minority groups both at home and abroad, I see three main factors which presently limit students in low-income communities from attending college.

Firstly, the low expectations that students face limit their chances of attending college.  When a community is inundated with crime, hunger and poverty, it is seen as a miracle for students to make it to high school graduation given the multitude of adversities they suffer from an early age.  For this reason, parents and teachers become trapped in the mindset that “if they just pass” or “if they can only make it through this year,” that is enough.  And though both groups want the best for their students, this mindset is harmful to academic progress.  If we expect our students to “just pass,” that is what they will internalize as their top goal. But if we push our students to explore their many talents and to reach their full potential, they are likely to do exactly that.

Secondly, a lack of financial stability and literacy prevents access to higher education. When a family is struggling to put food on the table or pay rent, trips to prospective colleges or SAT prep classes are far from their mind. Though these preparatory activities may be small steps on the path to college, they are ones that greatly increase a student’s chances of successfully choosing and enrolling in a university.  In addition, a lack of knowledge about loans, grants and scholarship programs may deter students from beginning the application process in the first place.

Finally, a limited knowledge of the higher education system limits access to it.  When one considers the amount of paperwork, correspondences and payments that must be submitted in the years leading up to college admission, it seems that these efforts are no less than a winding, confusing maze.  And for those who do not have an older family member or academic mentor to guide them through it, it is certainly less likely that these scholars will reach the reward waiting for them at the end of this maze.