Essay Sample: Limited Access to Higher Education

Students are constantly being left behind on the road of education they were told to follow to have a successful future. Those left behind typically involve low-income, first-generation students, and students of color. This is the development of the opportunity gap we face in today’s society and the root cause of the opportunity gap is the lack of higher education within the le.ss well-off community of students. For students to level the playing field, getting a college degree and education will allow them to have a better chance at catching up with their more affluent classmates. However, getting a college degree is not a simple task with limited access to higher education. The problem of access to higher education is getting worse as a result of the financial inequality and widening opportunity gap that is heavily linked to class. 

The obvious reason why students are not able to continue education after high school is financial inequality. It is easy to encourage low-income students to go to college to better their chances of getting a high-paying job, however, the issue is not lack of motivation rather it is the lack of funds. Generally, lower-income families cannot afford higher education without aid from the government which brings up the basic solution which is to encourage higher education and help finance their college education. After this proposed solution, the simple flaw is that enrollment is no longer the issue, completion and graduation are. According to admissionsly.com, 89% of low-income first-generation students drop out, which compared to second-generation students is about four times the amount and the overall equates to about 33% of students dropping out of college each year. Many factors contribute to the lack of completion, the most common is tuition costs. While students will receive government aid it does not usually cover the total costs and the burden of student debt is a catalyst for students to drop out. Even with the clear incentives for completion, the price of a college degree outweighs the need for a degree. In recent decades, the price for a college diploma has roughly doubled since 1980. When compared to just high school graduation, a bachelor's degree results in a nearly $600,000 gain in earnings throughout a career (Sawhill). Different demographics of the high school population require different postsecondary options. Some students are financially stable and should consider admission to competitive and expensive colleges. Others are less well prepared and might benefit more from a less traditional route. 

After having established the financial inequality and the effects on higher education, another component that hinders access to higher education is the widening opportunity gap. You may be wondering what the opportunity gap is and how it affects you, fundamentally speaking the opportunity gap refers to the disparity of success in higher education between students from different demographic backgrounds because of an unequal distribution of opportunities. As reported by willspot.com, "the opportunity gap refers to variables beyond of a person's control"..." Race, gender, language, family conditions, economic levels, and other aspects are examples of such variables." [BETTER TRANSITION] While we faced Financial inequality and the widening opportunity Gap, the government and officials have been trying to find a solution to try and level out the playing field. The federal government has spent money on Pell Grants, student loans, tax credits, and other forms of aid for undergraduate students. While the grants and aid are aimed at helping low-income students most of the time it is not enough to fund their college education until graduation. And although aid helps low-income students to close the opportunity gap, financial assistance is not enough to level out the playing field. As mentioned before financial aid will help with the enrollment of college, however, the main problem is graduating and completing their credits for a degree. Temporary financial aid can only help with enrollment but over the long term, our focus has to be to improve productivity in the higher education system rather than focusing on the elementary approaches to education (Sawhill).To solve the problem of access to higher education, there need to be improvements with real Innovation and more cost-effective forms of Education that will measure competency not by counting credits but by testing how much knowledge students retain. While it may be controversial in the higher education industry, and many will be critical of these advances, they should be supported by taxpayers, families, and administrators looking for a method to expand access to higher education without bankrupting families or state and federal governments. Innovation can help close America's opportunity gap by bringing college-level learning within reach of the less fortunate and allowing students to continue schooling.

Another option is to examine a strategy that is widely used in Europe and Asia. These nations use national testing systems to compel students to demonstrate their preparedness before being accepted to a university. Students in certain nations, such as Germany, who do not plan to attend a university, have better access to gain real-life experience in a specific field. These programs allow students to work in a learning environment specific to the career they would like to pursue, offering an alternative to post-secondary education. Higher education is either free or low-cost for individuals with the requisite ability. These systems encourage students to work hard in secondary schools to work hard in preparing them for the rigors of college-level work. Universities focus on educating individuals who are most likely to benefit, and taxpayers aren't forced to pay for students to learn what they should have learned earlier in their school years in college. The European and Asian systems are typically more merit-based and significantly more cost-effective than the American system.

Despite our actions to try and level out the playing field by focusing on making higher education more accessible, we are still lacking and the outcome is because of financial inequality and the opportunity gap. In summary, although we have made actions to level the playing field, the overall cause of the opportunity gap is linked strongly to class. The long-term solution has to prioritize inclusivity and offer methods of higher education that do not rely on time spent studying.