Elizabeth Billiar

Professor Knudson
UWRT 1102 MW 11:00-12:15
19 April 2015
Inquiry at Work
Firstly, I would like to apologize for how long this submission is, but I found it very interesting
and had a lot to add of my own personal experience and opinions!!!!
New York Times Magazine published an article in May of 2014 titled Who Gets to
Graduate? which tells the story of Vanessa Brewer. Vanessas mother was a high-achieving high
school senior when she got pregnant with Vanessa at the age of eighteen. During Vanessas
childhood money was always tight, but her divorced parents raised her and her younger brother
to believe they could accomplish anything. Vanessa shone in school and desired to obtain a fouryear college degree from the most prestigious public university, the University of Texas at
Austin, to go through the nursing program and get a masters in anesthesiology. She was
overjoyed to receive her acceptance letter and move in five months later.
But after failing her first test in statistics, a prerequisite for the nursing program. Vanessa
was discouraged, especially when her mother began to question if Vanessa was qualified to
succeed. In return Vanessa began to question herself as well trying to face the reality of the
situation. Vanessa was unacquainted to failure for most high school math tests she never had to
study. Vanessas senior-year GPA was 3.5, a score of 22 on her ACT, and 1,030 on her SAT,
above average scores for most students. Millions of students throughout the country are in the
same situation as Vanessa, high-achieving students from low-income families working towards a
four year degree encountering a multitude of troubles.

Many students are tripped up by complicated financial-aid forms or family obligations

preventing them from even setting foot on a campus. From my own personal experience this
played a factor. My mom and I struggled to complete the complicated list of forms related to
money that were required for admittance, especially due to the fact that my mother technically
runs her own business as a real estate agent under Allen Tate. To resolve this issue my mother
poured money into a private college advisor who helped both of us throughout the application
process by.

Other students who do not have this resource available are put at a great

disadvantage. Some students dont know how to choose the right college, so they drift into a
mediocre school producing more dropouts than graduates.
A major factor that effects all students is the fact they are overwhelmed by expenses or
take on too many loans. Personally, I work two part time jobs throughout the school year and a
full as well as a part time over the summer in order to afford my tuition. But even with that
money saved up it is not enough, thus forcing me to take out student loans that I must pay off.
This is especially difficult when upon graduating typically your first two or three years of
working full time will solely go towards paying of student loans. A friend of mine from high
school, Michael, attended CPCC for it had a simpler application process. Although, the college
did not suit him very well and he was faced with tuition expenses that forced him pick up a full
time job. Because of this he fell behind in his classes and began to fail for he was too tired after
work to complete his work. He decided in his first semester to drop out and work a full time job
instead.
Many students get into a good college and encounter what should be a minor obstacle,
such as failing a test, forgetting to turn in an assignment, etc., and freak out, like Vanessa, and
spiral out of control. College is the turning point in most students life of gaining independence

and they dont want to ask for help or dont know how. Most of this is due suffocating from
stress. This often leads to students returning home both demoralized and in substantial amount of
debt. The trends and statistics from the article absolutely stunned me! I have listed them below
for reference.

Most student who make it to college that show up and enroll in classes never get

their degrees.
40% of American students who started a four-year college havent earned a

degree in 6 years.
Community-colleges dropout rate is more than 50%, which is worse than any

other country except for Hungary

Whether a student graduates or not seems to depend solely on how much his or
her parents make. Basically, rich kids graduate and poor kids/working class kids

dont.
25% of college freshmen born into the bottom of the income distribution got a
bachelors degree by the age of 24, whereas 90% of freshmen born into families
of the top income quartile finish their degree.

I completely agree with these two statements based upon my own personal experiences.
Throughout high school, I completed advanced placement courses that qualified for college
credit in order to get a step ahead and graduate quicker. This drastically increased my SAT as
well as ACT test scores since I was use to more vigorous work. I wanted to major in nursing
before attending medical school to get my graduate to become a pediatric doctor. This is a long
path since I am required to get a bachelors degree (4 years of college in the Pre-Nursing
Program), a medical degree (an additional 4 years), 3 years of residency, and 3 additional years
of subspecialty which totals to 14 years (granted I stay on course and pass all classes and state
tests).

Starting my first semester of freshmen year I had 24 credits, which almost qualified me as
a sophomore. I followed the academic guideline upon registering from classes I had 13 credits
for the fall of 2014 and 15 for the spring of 2015. I encountered problems when I went to register
for classes in the fall of 2015 and spring of 2016. Since I only had 9 credit hours until I could
apply for the nursing program I was ecstatic that I was a full year ahead to apply in the spring of
2016, whereas the rest of my class would apply fall of 2016. However, to my disappointment I
found out that these classes were only offered at certain times and I would be able to apply in the
fall of 2016 with the rest of my classes and that I would not have enough credits to be considered
a full time student that did not qualify me for financial aid. I was devastated! Now I would be
forced to take and pay for classes that I didnt need. So I decided to get a minor which would set
me up to graduate in 4 and years. Taking classes in high school to get ahead now appears as a
disadvantage and I think it is a plot by the college to draw in more money by forcing students to
take more classes.
My parents and I both agreed that I would pay my own tuition with their assistance in
order to obtain a sense of responsibility and awareness in order to adapt to becoming
independent and living on my own. I completely agree and understand where they are coming
from. Especially, since I pay for my own classes I am more invested in going to class and
completing my work for I see it as a paycheck down the drain if I dont. Whenever my mom
completed the spring FAFSA my tuition went up for she made more money with business
picking up from the fall! This does not make sense to me at all! Since my mom made more
money, I am forced to pay more for my tuition?
The article then goes on to discuss more about the income gap. The research showed that
college students with the same standardized-test scores from different family backgrounds,

educational outcomes reflected parents income. The statistics showed the families in the top
income quartile had a 2 to 3 chance of graduating with a four year degree, whereas families in
the bottom quartile have a 1 in 6 chance. A dramatic impact of this is one I learned from my
mom. My mom paid for her college by herself. Similar to my friend Michael, my mom worked
full time while attending community college part-time. She had to work in order to afford her
classes, but she was often tired and worn out when it came time to attend class. She struggled a
lot and made it her goal when we were growing up that we werent forced into the same situation
she was. If she wouldve attended full-time she wouldve graduated in four years; however, due
to circumstances it took her 6 years.
Fortunately for Vanessa she was able to improve her odds. Most low-income students
undermatch, they dont apply or attend, the most selective college that would accept them, but
the more selective college you choose the higher your likelihood of graduating. Although,
remember to factor parental income and education play a huge role of determining who will
graduate in time! Why does this paradox make sense? According to Vanessas academic record
she had to ability to succeed, but according to the demographic statistic she was at serious risk of
failing.
For the first time, U.T. is making serious measures to answer these questions by
addressing the problems of the students. If you want to help low-income students you must
address needs other than academic and financial, but additionally address their fears, doubts, and
misconceptions. The only way to do this is by getting inside the mind of a college student.
David Laude, a 56-year-old chemistry professor, has been given the responsibility of
helping these students. Laude was a lousy student. Comparable to most freshmen college
students he felt bewildered, overwhelmed, and out of place trying to find his way at college,

especially one that was different from his tradition. He didnt drop out, but rather figured out
college and chemistry which he became really good at. Most likely due to his own initial
experience, Laude paid special attention to how his students were doing in his class. As year
passed, Laude began to wonder why the distribution of grades didnt follow the bell curve one
would expect, but rather a bimodal distribution with a majority of students clustered in the A to
B range and others clustered in a D to F range. The same cluster applies to my Organic and
Biochemistry 1204 class. Students either fall in the A to B range and others in the D to F range.
Laude suspected that the students in the D to F range were smart, but confused and scared
like he had been. Laude began pulling files and discovered that many of the students that were
failing were from low-income families that often fit into ethnic, racial, and geographic profiles as
well as had lower SAT scores compared to that of the rest of the university. The default strategy
for U.T. was putting failing students into remedial classes that sent the message that they didnt
belong. Laude then conducted an experiment of his own. He took 50 students from his freshman
chemistry class with the adversity indicators into a new program of a smaller class with the same
challenging material as his regular class with identical material, lectures, and tests. The program
offered extra hours, advisers, and peer mentors. The results were outstanding. They received the
same grades and passed rates of both returning sophomore year and graduation compared to that
of the university average. Laude was promoted to increase the graduation rate of the whole
university. Relating back to my Organic and Biochemistry 1204 class, students that attend class,
complete SI and problem sessions, as well as class study groups often have higher test scores that
students who do not.
A complicating factor arose from this due to the fact that most colleges hold a unique
admission policy. After racial discrimination was eliminated, colleges began to accepted the top

percentage of students from a graduating class who were often well off and mostly white with
high SAT scores based upon demographic statistics. It is apparent the kids with financial needs
are denied academic preparation and opportunities as well as lack the identity to fit in with kids
who have. The article goes on to discuss issues with Laudes program as well as other solution
and Vanessas personal story. The most striking common factor was that freshman students arrive
on campus feeling confident of their success in high school, but discouraged from early failure.
This can lead to stress, depression, lack of sleep, weight loss or gain. However, encouragement
and support form family, friends, mentors, church, or community turned things around pulling
students back to confidence. The bottom line is that support, both academic and psychological,
towards students increased high rates. Yet, colleges rarely offer this seeing it as a way to train
money from students for their own personal profit.
It is vital student graduate from a four-year college for a means of economic mobility,
especially for low-income families. If a child is born into a family in the lowest economic
quintile (meaning a family that earns $28,000 or less), and she doesnt get a college degree, she
has only a 14 percent chance of winding up in one of the top two quintiles, and she has a 45
percent chance of never making it out of that bottom bracket. But if she does earn a four-year
degree, her prospects change completely. Suddenly, there is a 40 percent chance that shell make
it into one of the top two quintiles and just a 16 percent chance that shell remain stuck at the
bottom. There is a broader cost of letting promising students drop out is the loss of vast ideas
and opinions trapped inside our individual minds. For almost all of the 20th century, the United
States did a better job of producing college graduates than any other country. But over the past
20 years, we have fallen from the top of those international lists; the United States now ranks
12th in the world in the percentage of young people who have earned a college degree. During

the same period, a second trend emerged: American higher education became more stratified;
most well-off students now do very well in college, and most middle- and low-income students
struggle to complete a degree. These two trends are clearly intertwined. And it is hard to imagine
that the nation can regain its global competitiveness, or improve its level of economic mobility,
without reversing them.
The gap between the upper class had drastically been increasing between that of the
working and lower class throughout society as a whole. The rates education and graduation of
lower-income students had decreased as well due to lack of resources and opportunity. From this
we can conclude that society as a whole is becoming dumber and lacking educational skills
required for higher professions. Something must be done to give lower-income students an
academic and economic chance to succeed. The movement starts with high-school and college
students taking a stand against colleges rigorous applications that bar student from applying as
well as current students taking a stand against the ridiculous tuition rates. This process isnt easy,
but it is possible and Laudes work is a prime example of this.