Continuing post-secondary education is a luxury that every American should be able to afford. Hence, why free education is one of the primary conversations in our current presidential election. In our country, student loans are a vital part of expensing tuition. As a result, student debt currently averages to $1.3 trillion dollars.
Accrued debt isn’t an anomaly; it’s understood as the norm. What’s less understood is how our debt based system impacts our nation's promise to ensure all Americans, regardless of creed, equal access to higher education.
Economic disparities burgeon the gap between lower income students and educational attainment. Poor Black and Latino students who don’t have financial access to attend college, or the tools necessary to graduate, unequivocally have a harder time moving up the social ladder than their wealthier white counterparts.
According to a study conducted by Demos, a public policy organization, "Nearly two-thirds of Black and Latino student borrowers at for profit four year schools dropout (65 percent and 67 percent, respectively). Nearly half (47 percent) of Black student borrowers drop out with debt at for profit two, and less than two year institutions.”
While access to top schools like New York University has become more attainable, poor students often graduate burdened with a loan debt too high to manage.
According to Demos, "Households without student debt are more likely to own homes, have slightly lower interest rates on mortgages, and have retirement and liquid assets that are considerably larger than those households with student debt."
Propublica reports, “More than a quarter of the nation's 60 wealthiest universities leave their low-income students owing an average of $20,000 in debt.”
Strides have been made in order to help poor students attain higher education. Recently funding for Pell Grants have increased. According to The Department of Education, since taking office in 2008, President Barack Obama has increased Pell Grant funding by $12 million.
However, new research released by the United States Department of Education shows only half of matriculated Pell Grant recipients enrolled in bachelor degree programs graduate from college within a 6-year time frame. On the contrary, 70 percent of high-income students graduate given the same time. Some don't graduate at all.
Nearly $30 billion federal dollars are funded as grants into the United States annually, in order for low-income students to attend college. The majority of federal money comes from annual income taxes American’s pay. In order to sustain a critical return investment, the U.S. Department of Education says graduation rates must rise. If not, the future economic wealth of the country looks bleak.
