A college education does not come cheap, and the cost of a higher education only seems continue increasing, making it difficult not only for low income and minority students to afford, but for middle-class families as well. Because of the extensive costs involved with paying for college, the federal government and many institutions offer financial assistance to low-income individuals; however, in the past decade much of the need-based aid has been replaced by merit based scholarships. Need based aid, such as student loans, allows for minority students who would normally not be able to afford college to receive a higher education, while merit based based scholarships take away from need-based aid and reward students for good grades. The question to answer is which is more important, need-based or merit? Merit based aid is a huge benefit for middle class and even some upper class families and has shown to be a motivator for students to do well in school, but most low income and minority students do not have the grades to receive merit based scholarships. Merit based aid also takes away from loans that need based aid students would receive and makes it even harder for them to attend college, decreasing the already low percentage of low-income and minority students that attend college.
"Only 7 percent of high-school sophomores from the lowest quartile of socioeconomic status eventually earn a bachelor's degree, compared with 60 percent of those from the highest quartile," according to Associate Professor of Public Policy Susan M. Dynarski and doctoral candidate Judith Scott-Clayton, both at Harvard. "Only 12 percent of Hispanics and 16 percent of African-Americans eventually earn a B.A., compared with 33 percent of non-Hispanic whites." Moreover, the gaps persist "even among well-prepared students," so difficulties paying for college are at least partly to blame, the researchers say.
Obviously most middle class and upper class families would find merit based aid a more substantial option, while lower class families and minorities lean towards student loans and need based aid. There is a group for of higher-education professionals, policy experts, and researchers called the Rethinking Student Aid study group who have been working for the past two years to create a set of proposals to simplify and improve the federal student aid system. Their latest report expresses the importance of providing financial assistance to families of lower incomes than those of higher incomes as well as well as recommending simplifying federal grants and tax benefits, giving loan subsidies to students during the repayment period, providing federal savings accounts to children of low-income families, and rewarding states and institutions for the success of low-income students in college.
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9 comments:
By the way the information for this blog was taken from an article entitled Student Aid in CQ Researcher.
This debate brings up an interesting situation. If student loans are geared more toward low-income families, what steps are necessary to provide the necessary funds for these loans? Are colleges expected to cut back on merit-based scholarships or rely on other budget cuts?
Maybe the reason that the lower quartile of students don't get a B.A. is because of their primary and secondary school education. It is proven in studies by psychologists that students in intercities and low budget school that their education is limited. Shouldn't the government put more money on primary and secondary school rather than college funds?
I believe it is so true that people who have more income have a much higher chance of getting good grades and getting into a good college than low income students. Need-based is more important as middle class and upper class families can afford college through loans but low income need help. Most of the low income families go to college so that they can get a good paying job and help their families out. Need based outweighs merit based scholarships.
Caitlin,
Your blog is very informative. I can say from experience how difficult it is to get need-based scholarships and merit-based scholarships. It's a very troubling position for students who are in middle class who do not get stellar grades to get any type of financial aid. Their families make too much money for financial aid, but they don't qualify for merit-based scholarships. I always wonder how these kids, who really desire to go to college, actually pay for college.
-Emily
Caitlin although I find your blog very interesting, I have to disagree when you say that Merit Scholarships are becoming more common. I found that when I was applying to college, most of the students that got any financial aid were those who could prove that they fit the requirements for need base. Being a minority with top grades in all of my classes, I still found that most scholarships had financial need requisites. If in fact Merit based scholarship are being emphasized by our government, is this another form of discrimination against minorities in America? Where do the many minorities with good grades stand in regards to loans?
Duckblogger,
You have a very good point about lower level education, which brings up an entirely different issue, and one that is ongoing in the presidential election. Many people believe that the No Child Left Behind Act that was set up by the Bush administration is not adequate in its efforts to raise the intellect of lower-income children and minorities. One probable reason for this is because it is very difficult for schools alone to accomplish this task. New programs are being developed that focus not only on the schools but on their home lives as well. Major proponents of this theory include James J. Heckman, Susan B. Neuman,Geoffrey Canada.Obama has shown his support for each of these reforms. However, it is clear equality is a very difficult level to reach in schools and until it is reached,if it ever is, the government must continue to debate and decide who to support in its efforts to help student financially in college.
Also for more information on the No Child Left Behind Act, you can check out http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/n/no_child_left_behind_act/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier and for more information involving reform not only in schools but in student home lives as well go to http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07wwln-lede-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
st3vzla,
You are definitely correct that need-based aid seems to have triumphed over merit-based aid but most of this aid has occurred within the last year or two and is available through the federal government. Loans allow for more equality because they give low-income and minority students more of a chance to go to college. For students that are on the wealthier side, many companies and private institutions as well as some state governments still offer merit-based scholarships to reward students for their hard work. Students interested in receiving scholarships can look them up on the internet or find out what local scholarships are offered in their community.
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