Wrong priorities

When I was in Cairo last semester, one of my Egyptian classmates told me she thought American higher education was fair and non-problematic.

I asked her what she meant, and she told me about the Thanaweya Amma, an exam that Egyptian students graduating high school must take and score at a certain level to get into a decent university. In her opinion, shared by many Egyptians, the exam isn’t really fair due to the sub-standard state of public schools in Egypt and the advantages given to students whose parents can afford elite private schools and special tutoring prior to the exam.
 
Without going into details, the problem is very severe in Egypt. Initially, I was appalled.
Then I thought, is America all that different? Our public education system isn’t that bad, and our income disparities and class distinctions are not exactly chasms, but I do see serious problems with American access to higher education.

It’s more than apparent that high school students who come from affluent families that can afford to pay upwards of $1,000 at Kaplan or Princeton Review for SAT or ACT exam prep classes have a significant advantage over the student who can’t.
But let’s say the students who can’t afford the test prep work hard and do well. Many hope to get a spot at their state university in order to keep their tuition expenses at a minimum. The next hurdle these students have to face is a school like IU, which, chasing slavishly after a slightly higher spot on national college rankings, is actively recruiting out-of-state students who might boast slightly higher scores.

IU has an almost 40 percent out-of-state population (I admit I’m a member of that population), and that number is only going up. There’s been a 12.5 percent increase in IU freshmen from New York and a 25 percent increase in freshmen from New Jersey, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal on Friday. While that diversity is great, increasing numbers of out-of-state students only means fewer spots for in-state students, many whose financial constraints don’t allow them to look beyond their state’s borders for higher education. 

I’m not even going to get into the disparities between those students who have to work their way through college and those who can relax while Daddy foots the bill.

According to an article in the USA Today from Feb. 22, 2006, the average college graduate carries about $19,000 in debt upon graduating, a daunting prospect to someone looking for a first job in a recession economy. Considering medical school? The average medical student graduates with a debt of $126,000. Law school graduates don’t fare much better with an average debt of $81,000, according to a Jan. 10, 2007, SmartMoney magazine article. 

I’m not trying to paint an apocalyptic picture of higher education, but maybe American politicians can take some time out from trying to convince the public they love Jesus more than their opponent and help out America’s students.