Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
Making stuff up? I guess the better discussion point would be to define rich. Because going to school is already a "rich kid's" privilege that most poor kids cannot even dream of. Economic segregation is a real problem in higher education and one that this issue resolves. Some stats that will make this very evident.
Median household income of University of Alabama students: $57,928 (only 17% of students are considered "low income" as defined by Pell Grants.)
Median household income of ASU students: $69,074 (28% of students are considered low income)
Median household income of Weber State students: $87,500 (only 18% of students come are considered low income)
Media household income of Columbia students: $150,900 (only 5.1% of students are considered low income)
Median household income of University of Virginia students: $155,500 (only 1.5% of students are considered low income)
Media household income of Harvard students: $168,800 (only 4.8% of students are considered low income)
Media household income of Yale students: $192,600 (only 2.1% of students are considered low income)
Education remains inaccessible for the poor, and all the stats and demographics support this claim.
What makes these stats even more sobering is the fact that less than 2% (less than 1% at the Ivy league schools) of students will actually transition between the poor to the rich. Education will better an individual's situation, but being born into a rich family is the only sure way of guaranteeing you're going to remain rich, and going to an Ivy League school all but carves it in stone.
Taking that same approach here's the largest community college districts in the country.
Median household income of Miami Dade students: $49,446
Median household income of Houston students: $55,501
Median household income of Maricopa students: $55,144
You can guess where the "poor kids" go to school.
Obviously it was, and no, Weber State does not have a law school.
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UVA is a state school though and it probably has the worst income disparity in your list. It fits with the reputation that Charlottesville is filled with a bunch of rich NOVA kids going to UVA. UVA is slightly above average for public schools in Virginia in terms of tuition. It is probably considered the most prestigious school to go to in VA. If they made tuition free, I doubt it would move the needle much. Heck, it's generally inaccessible to students living in my upperish middle class suburb in Richmond where we have fairly renowned public high schools and it's not tuition that is even a factor to why it is inaccessible in our case.
Free tuition would further drive up admission requirements. You may be able to quota in some more lower income students, but it's going to make it that much tougher to get into public universities. The consequence is that more people will have to turn to private colleges. Sure, there are private colleges that are elite and the rich will get their kids into, but the vast majority of private colleges are generally easier to get into and provide a backstop option for those who are able and willing to spend the money. The impact of free tuition without a huge expansion of universities would be some marginal help for the poor, a lot of the middle class would be pushed out of public schools into private schools that will leave them in debt, and the rich will still have options.