Last week, after I wrote about the increasing costs of a college education, I heard from a bunch of people via e-mail about their own college $$$ dilemmas. By and large, the people who wrote me about their money problems weren’t lower income. They were middle class home owners who were not affluent enough to afford the University of California ticket price for their kids without going substantially into debt, and not poor enough to qualify for financial help. As for private colleges? Forgeddaboudit.
UCLA sophomore Tammy generously offered up information about her own personal situation in a posted comment on the earlier thread, and I thought it merited a trip to the front page. Look, Tammy is obviously an intelligent, capable young woman. I have no doubt, she’ll find her way through the fiscal/educational thicket to a bright future. But a broken LA public school system, and soaring college costs have made that journey far harder than necessary. (Did I mention that Tammy has a younger sister?)
It is unfortunate that hers is a newly typical story. If we really want our American kids to rise to their potential, it shouldn’t be. Nobody expects college to be free.
But it used to be affordable.
Okay, here’s the very smart and articulate Tammy:
“I am not sure how many of these previous post-ers have been in high school recently but I am going to have to agree with Celeste here about the overcrowding of high schools in urban (and even not-so-urban) areas. Let me just say when you have to sit on the floor because there aren’t enough desks in your classroom it’s pretty difficult to learn, regardless of the teacher’s enthusiasm and/or dedication. Because of recurring instances such as this, my parents and I had to prioritize and spend money that had been saved for my college education on a private high school just so I could have a desk to sit in and a textbook of my own.
This clearly took a large chunk out of my college fund, making it virtually impossible for us to swing 4 years (if I manage to get all the classes I need in order to graduate on time) at a UC. Can we afford it? No. Does the state think we can? Yes. So what are we supposed to do? That’s not rhetorical…”
Tammy, three steps:
1) Move to Georgia
2) Keep up your grades to qualify for the HOPE scholarship paid for by mathematically challenged lottery players
3) Get your college degree.
As a teacher who has taught at 2 large urban schools in Los Angeles – one year round and one traditional, but both very crowded, I have yet to see a student sit on the floor, or even lack for a seat. OK, 4 years at a UC may not be in the picture but two years at a JC then transfer to a UC. It’s been done by many in your situation. No shame in that.
I am quite concerned about the talent and brains which will be lost if education is not accessible to those who are lower on the economic spectrum. It’s tempting to call this problem one of the most serious facing our nation, but brain power is something which cannot be squandered with the planet on the brink of such catastrophic circumstances. It is unconscionable to cut so many off from a future which would enrich their lives, and possibly all of our lives.