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Poor and Smart? Go to College
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BY CASSIE LANCASTER
omething is missing from our conversation
TAYLOR JONES, HOOVER DIGEST
about college access and affordability for Santa Barbara students. Many colleges are more than willing—eager, even—to admit promising students with challenging circumstances. So why don’t low-income students take advantage of these opportunities? In a recent article, the Independent noted that only 10 percent of last year’s Santa Barbara Unified graduates from a low socioeconomic background went on to a four-year college or university. I’ve worked with low-income college applicants for nearly a decade,
first as a private college counselor offering my services pro bono, and now as director of Mission Scholars, a nonprofit dedicated to producing more college graduates from our socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. As someone who works with students on a daily basis, I want to clarify an important point: This dismal statistic does not reflect a lack of desire. Many of the kids desperately want to go to college. But don’t take my word on this. There is clear evidence in the subtext of the Independent article itself. Look at two points made by the district: (1) The district rightly lauds the SBCC “Promise” program, which provides free community college for all local full-time students; (2) The district further points out that it enjoys a higher-than-average overall college-going rate if you include community college attendance. Translation: students want to go to college, and when money is taken out of the equation, they show up. The tragic thing is that for many students, money is far less of an obstacle than they realize. They simply
don’t know such opportunities exist. It’s a catch-22 situation: They lack the resources to navigate the complicated college admissions and financial aid system — resources that would, ironically, bring the cost of these colleges within their reach. The college admissions process is complex for every student, rich or poor, and requires years of careful planning and preparation for a successful outcome. For those who are the first in their families to attend college—whose parents never navigated the system and have no idea where to start—they simply don’t have access to the degree of guidance needed. Navigating successfully through high school requires an emphasis on grades, extracurriculars, standardized test scores, and course selection that opens the door to the immense amount of financial and merit-based aid at many heavily endowed fouryear institutions. They aren’t aware, for example, that any student admitted to Olin College of Engineering, ranked #3 in the nation among undergraduate engineering programs, automatically receives $100,000 of merit-based financial aid. That’s $100,000 they will never have to pay back, and that’s not counting the need-based assistance they will also receive. They aren’t aware that Rice University, ranked among the top 20 in the country, gives students with a family income under $65,000 full tuition, room, and board. That’s a $268,000 value. They’ve never heard of Washington University in St. Louis, where students with family incomes under $75,000 receive grants in lieu of loans. They haven’t been told that despite Dartmouth’s annual $76,000 sticker price, students with family incomes under $100,000 receive free tuition. And every conversation about college needs to include an understanding of “no-loan policies.” The list of colleges with no-loan policies now contains more than 70 schools: universities wealthy enough to enable every recipient of financial aid to graduate debt-free. The list contains dream schools for students of all income levels: schools like Amherst, Davidson, Harvard, Bowdoin, Colby, Haverford, Pomona, Stanford, and Swarthmore. Other invaluable scholarship opportunities exist, like QuestBridge, for instance, which matches its Scholars with a four-year institution—40 venerable universities partner with QuestBridge, including Claremont McKenna, Colorado College, MIT, USC, and Yale—and promises each student a full ride. It’s difficult to become a QuestBridge Scholar, and to earn admission to schools like Olin and Rice, but Santa Barbara’s students are known for reaching high. Our wealthier students are routinely expected to shoot for the stars in college admission; we should expect the same from every student in our district, including our low-income students. But first, they have to know these possibilities exist and that our higher expectations are financially feasible. In my experience, once motivated students understand what is possible, they will rise to any challenge you place before them. With two colleagues, Cassie Lancaster started the Mission Scholars nonprofit under the fiscal agency of the Santa Barbara Education Foundation and will consult at Santa Barbara high schools beginning in fall 2019. For more, see missionscholars.org.
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