Written by: Ryan Steffen
I am privileged. I would be ignorant to not admit that as someone who is able to afford to live in an area like Pewaukee. There are so many aspects to privilege beyond socioeconomics but I would like to take a moment to talk about a harder conversation related to paying for college. To be honest, many of us are privileged. Oftentimes, people pick where they want to go and then figure out the finances second, but it is crucial to understand that is not an option for everyone. As most people know, college is expensive, and even to afford in-state, you are paying between 15 and 25 thousand dollars a year. The government only allows up to $5500 in loans so as a student your first year, so you are still responsible for coming up with at least 10 thousand dollars. Most students take this out as a private loan, but if your parents don’t have the credit to take out a loan like that, college almost isn’t an option.
Another thing that people are often told is to go get a job or pull themselves up by their bootstraps if they cannot afford something. According to Dr. King, “It’s all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps.” While doing something like getting a job might provide some income, that normally only serves from paycheck to paycheck giving the person no ability to save. That is part of the reason we must differentiate wealth and income. Income is the money you make while wealth is the value of all your assets. Some of the wealthiest people in the world live off the interest of their wealth and so they’re wealth never decreases. Most people don’t fit into this category but it is important that as most of us make these college decisions, we are cognizant of the situations other people are in.
I really appreciated this post and how you started it by addressing the privilege that you and most Pewaukee families have. A lot of the posts on this blog are about how you should and have to save for college if you want a higher education but I love how you addressed other influences and spoke on the reality of paying for college that we will be more likely to see, rather than just putting out random common sense kind of tips from articles that don't apply to everyone.
ReplyDeleteThis was a different approach to this topic than what I've commonly seen. I like how you addressed the logistics of taking out a loan in order to have enough money for college, but there are many other ways to make sure college is an opportunity that just loans and jobs. That's why there are scholarships and even more for those with lower incomes. While Pewaukee tends to be a wealthier area, there are still people within the community and in the communities surrounding who have these conflicts, but still manage to seek a higher education.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really good post. It showed a new perspective and that college is not always the answer; a lot of of people can resonate that they are either privileged or that college is simply not an option. For most people in Pewaukee, college could possibly be the alternative, to be quite frank, most people do depend on their parents to pay for their college and by you addressing that the others can't depend on their parents is a completely different approach than others just giving out tips that isn't applicable for some. I liked how you didn't give out tips on how to make college "affordable" or having a set in stone plan, as it would do injustice to your article.
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The best part about this article is the fact that you started it with the privileged life you live, and then expanded on the likes of it. It was a very different approach as the blogs on here usually speak on saving for bigger and better things, but forget to realize some people lack the ability to do so with lesser resources, or they may not be "privileged". Very good!
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