Paying the price : college costs, financial aid, and the betrayal of the American dream / Sara Goldrick-Rab.
Material type:
TextPublisher: Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, [2016]Description: 373 pages : illustrations ; 23 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780226404349 (cloth : alk. paper)
- 022640434X (cloth : alk. paper)
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | NonFiction | 378.38 G621 | Available | 33111008468320 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
If you are a young person, and you work hard enough, you can get a college degree and set yourself on the path to a good life, right?
Not necessarily, says Sara Goldrick-Rab, and with Paying the Price , she shows in damning detail exactly why. Quite simply, college is far too expensive for many people today, and the confusing mix of federal, state, institutional, and private financial aid leaves countless students without the resources they need to pay for it.
Drawing on an unprecedented study of 3,000 young adults who entered public colleges and universities in Wisconsin in 2008 with the support of federal aid and Pell Grants, Goldrick-Rab reveals the devastating effect of these shortfalls. Half the students in the study left college without a degree, while less than 20 percent finished within five years. The cause of their problems, time and again, was lack of money. Unable to afford tuition, books, and living expenses, they worked too many hours at outside jobs, dropped classes, took time off to save money, and even went without adequate food or housing. In many heartbreaking cases, they simply left school--not with a degree, but with crippling debt. Goldrick-Rab combines that shocking data with devastating stories of six individual students, whose struggles make clear the horrifying human and financial costs of our convoluted financial aid policies.
America can fix this problem. In the final section of the book, Goldrick-Rab offers a range of possible solutions, from technical improvements to the financial aid application process, to a bold, public sector-focused "first degree free" program. What's not an option, this powerful book shows, is doing nothing, and continuing to crush the college dreams of a generation of young people.
Includes bibliographical references (pages [317]-360) and index.
Possible lives -- The cost and price of a college education -- Who gets Pell? -- Making ends meet -- On their own -- Family matters -- Making the grade -- City of broken dreams -- Getting to graduation -- Making college affordable -- Appendix 1. Wisconsin Scholars Longitudinal Study / Peter Kinsley and Sara Goldrick Rab -- Appendix 2. Overview of Wisconsin higher education / Drew M. Anderson and Sara Goldrick Rab.
One of the most sustained and vigorous public debates today is about the value and, crucially, the price of college. But an unspoken, outdated assumption underlies all sides of this debate: if a young person works hard enough, they'll be able to get a college degree and be on the path to a good life. That's simply not true anymore, says Sara Goldrick-Rab. Quite simply, college is far too expensive for many people today, and the confusing mix of federal, state, institutional, and private financial aid leaves countless students without the resources they need to pay for it. Drawing on a study of 3,000 young adults who entered public colleges and universities in Wisconsin in 2008 with the support of federal aid and Pell Grants, Goldrick-Rab reveals the devastating effect of these shortfalls. She believes America can fix this problem. In the final section of the book, Goldrick-Rab offers a range of possible solutions.