Sarah and her family always knew that she would pursue higher education. How they would make college work financially, however, was a different story. She had four siblings living off of her dad’s one-man salary and her maternal grandmother recently had hip replacement. With these expensive costs, she said not much money was left to help her pay for college.
Sarah is not alone; millions of college students like her face the possibility of missing out on higher education because of their financial situations. A person’s chances of obtaining a degree decrease alarmingly when they come from a low-income family, a term loosely defined as a family making less than twice the federal poverty level.
Just one in 10 people from low-income families obtain a bachelor’s degree by age 25 in contrast to one in two people from high-income families, states a report done by the White House in January 2014. There are several barriers that contribute to this disparity.
An obvious and yet often insurmountable barrier to college for low-income students is the rising price of tuition and expenses. The average tuition and fee price for in-state, four-year public universities was $9,410 during the 2015-2016 school year, according to the College Board. This does not include the additional costs of room and board, supplies, and textbooks. These expenses can be daunting for low-income students, deterring them from considering college a viable option.
As she considered schools, Sarah felt the burden of these expenses acutely. She knew that she should pursue the cheapest option possible, but as she deliberated, her experience meant more to her than her finances. She realized she didn’t just want a degree. She wanted the full on-campus experience.
“I could have probably attended a community college and stayed at home working my way through. Without financial aid, college would have been of a lower quality with less opportunity. I would have had to work a full-time job, in addition to taking care of a home and attending school full-time,” she explained.
Though living at home and going to a community college is an option, it can keep students from the formative experience of living among peers and away from family. With the encouragement of her grandmother, Sarah decided to pursue education at a four-year university instead of a community college. Finances, however, still hung over her head; she began applying for scholarships.
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