Economic Discrimination in Higher Education

Definition of Econ. Discrimination:

“Economic Discrimination is discrimination based on economic factors.” - Wikipedia

Nowadays, we’ve become more aware and conscious about how racial discrimination continually affects all aspects of our lives and of our nation. Yet too often is the topic of Economic Discrimination overlooked and or taken seriously in the field of higher education. In colleges and universities, often we celebrate the idea of people from all walks of life entering one common goal: the pursuit of knowledge. Too often however are we negating the very real life struggles that people face when trying to pursue their degrees. 

“Studies have shown…”

In a 2017 study from the National Center for Education Statistics, while 60% of the wealthiest students complete and graduate, only 16% of low-income college students graduate. Colleges have begun to take the steps to ensure that students of low-income are meeting goals and finishing their educational careers through workshops and resources, but the track is slow. 

Possible Contributing Factors

Possible contributing factors to economic discrimination comes from all different areas and tend to affect all, however some of the biggest contributing factors here in America are linked to racism, sexism, ageism, religious beliefs, ethnicity or nationality, to name a few. There are however other factors that contribute to a student’s success while in college. Let’s take a  look at a hypothetical situation to showcase some of those factors:

Student A is from a middle-upper class family with the generational wealth and capabilities to let them go to college. Student B is from a rural low-income family with the capabilities to sustain themselves, but not enough to pursue such goals. Let's say both Students have been accepted to the same college and the same degree. Both students will have different experiences while in their college career.

• Inhibitors such as tuition hikes and fees often prevent lower-income students like Student B, forcing many to seek outside aid from secondary jobs or cutting other living costs out to make ends meet.
• Workload: Someone like Student B might find themselves often sacrificing studies in order to work to make enough to cover the fees of their classes
• Physical & Mental Health: Often these are affected by the stress that comes with more outside negative factors, and students similar to Student B might find themselves more at risk to harming their physical and mental healths in comparison to Student A who might not have these worries due to their backgrounds.

List of further research in relation

If you’re interested on this topic and want to do further reading, here are some links below that are related to the topic either directly, or build on other contributing factors:

Breakdown on subject matter:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_discrimination 

A breakdown on Latino Education and Economic Progress by Georgetown CEW: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gfkTEhPGYU 

Here’s a breakdown on “affirmative action”, touching on issues on social economics and racial disparities in higher education, that Vox created:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuUDhfKV3bk