Government financial
aid
based on
merit
turns education from a right available to all students into a privilege primarily for the wealthy.
"[T
he increased
use
of
merit
aid
is associated with a decrease in
enrollment
of low-
income
and minority students."
This
quote from a study done by Amanda L. Griffith, a professor of economics at Wake Forest University, was cited in a statement calling for an end to
merit
based financial
aid
which was issued by a group of private
college
presidents (Gardner). Making financial
aid
entirely dependent upon
merit
makes
college
education even more
class
and race entitled (and biased) than it is already. As Catherine Rampell wrote, “
Merit
metrics like SAT scores tend to closely correlate with family
income
; about 1 in 5 students from households with
income
over $250,000 receives
merit
aid
from his or her school. For families making less than $30,000, it’s 1 in 10” (Rampell). Basing financial
aid
for students on "
merit
" serves to lock low-
income
people into poverty; regardless of whether it was intended or not,
merit
-based financing
also
has racial and gender bias.
Also
, the very term
merit
based is misleading. As Chelsea Jones put it, “There is a
in a term commonly used in higher education:
merit
aid
. The
use
of '
merit
’ implies
Conti(United Kingdom) a region created by territorial division for the purpose of local government
2
or worthy of praise, but unfortunately, in
this
context,
merit
is often synonymous with privilege.” The truth is, many low
income
students who cannot obtain
merit
-based scholarships are just as smart as their higher
income
counterparts who can get the
merit
-based financial
aid
but they happen to be unable to take part in the various extracurricular activities that play a big role in determining whether they are a star candidate for a
merit
-based scholarship or not. A low-
income
student
not only might not have the ability to attend extracurricular activities depending on where her or his school is located, they might
also
have to
work
part-
time
just to make ends meet even if their school had those opportunities (Jones).
Also
, are students with disabilities that make it difficult or impossible to participate in extracurricular activities, going to be less able to secure
merit
based financial
aid
?
Lastly
, single mothers who have one child or more to take care of,
in addition
to
class
and possibly
work
as well, would be unfairly impacted by a decision to make government financial
aid
for
student
's
merit
based.
This
would, and already does, make it gender biased. That, in combination with the fact that women who are equally qualified still tend to get paid less than men for the same jobs, makes
this
sexist.
While the amount of money
that is
dedicated to
merit
based financial
aid
increases, the amount of money available for need based financial
aid
proportionately decreases.
Likewise
, while the amount of
merit
based financial
aid
increases, the number of students who receive need-based
aid
decreases - IE Pell Grant. The result is fewer black students on the campus:
Griffith, an assistant professor of economics at Wake Forest University, found that “the
use
of
merit
aid
is associated with changes in the socioeconomic and racial composition of the
body.” According to the report, within three to five years of introducing a
merit
aid
program, the two top tiers of private colleges saw their share of Pell Grant
Conti(United Kingdom) a region created by territorial division for the purpose of local government
3
fall by 6 percentage points. At bottom-tier schools, the proportion of Pell Grant recipients
initially
ultimately dropped by 2 percentage points within 10 years of the creation of
such
a program. The study
also
found that the introduction of a
merit
aid
program led to a reduction in the representation of black students at top-tier schools (
qtd
.
Burd 5).
Another problem with
merit
based financial
aid
is that colleges and universities are dedicating a lot of resources to attracting “desirable” students who are high scoring and have high achievements.
This
is all to enhance the university's prestige. But what of everyone else? What of those who have disabilities or those who must help take care of siblings or other relatives with disabilities? What of the students who have to
work
part
time
or even full
time
to get by and are not able to spend as much
time
on their
class
work
as they would like, or as their
class
work
really requires, having lower grades
as a result
? What of the LGBTQ students of
colora visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect
? David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, (a civil rights organization focused on the empowerment of LGBTQ people) and former executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, summarized it by saying:
The ability for postsecondary institutions to provide credentials, certificates and degrees that are required for certain types of jobs are
further
stratified or
further
marginalizing individuals who are from communities that are most under supported or least likely to
have access to the high-quality schools…without need-based financial
aid
(qtd.
Conti(United Kingdom) a region created by territorial division for the purpose of local government
4
Elfman).
Making
student
aid
merit
based only for them would effectively shut them out.
Statistically speaking, there is plenty of evidence showing that white students are
likely to receive
merit
based financial
aid
than students of
colora visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect
(Racial Breakdown of Financial
Aid
). At the same
time
, black and Chicana people earn less than white people do (Kochhar and Cilluffo). Taken together, making financial
aid
merit
based only serves to
further
entrap people of
colora visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect
in a vicious cycle of poverty and inequality. It is white supremacist regardless of whether
that is
the intent of those who trying to implement it. In a country that disproportionately incarcerates people of
colora visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect
, people who get out of prison and want to try to restart their lives by getting a
college
degree will find it much more difficult to do so in Georgia which has absolutely no need based financial
aid
. All financial
is
merit
based (Total Grant
Aid
Awarded).
In conclusion, making government financial
aid
for students based solely on
merit
has already been shown to be an unmitigated disaster for the low
income
, disabled, working mothers and people of
colora visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect
. It amounts to educational apartheid and as already stated, it means that government
student
aid
pretty much becomes available only to those who least need it. To
Catherine Rampell, who is quoting Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher at Edvisors.
,
low
income
students, the six year graduation rate is 45 percent when grants cover one quarter
Conti(United Kingdom) a region created by territorial division for the purpose of local government
5
the
college
it goes up to 68 percent when grants cover three fourths of the
college
cost; Looking at the statistics for high
income
students though, the graduation rates are about 78 percent either way.
Merit
based financing has
also
been shown to cause lower
college
attendance for non-white students. Education should be viewed as a right and not a privilege,
not only must we no longer consider
merit
-based
student
financial
aid
programs, we must go
further
, enact federal laws which prohibit states from using
merit
based financial
student
aid
programs and force the states that are using
merit
based financial
aid
to immediately discontinue that practice and return the
use
of need based financial
aid
.
Works Cited
“A Racial Breakdown of Financial
Aid
”, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 23 October, 2011, Accessed 29 January, 2020
www
.
.
/
2011
/
10
/
a-racial-breakdown-of-financial-
aid
/
Burd, Stephen “Undermining Pell, How Colleges Compete for Wealthy Students and Leave the Low-
Income
Behind.” May, 2013, Accessed 29 January, 2020
s3.
amazonaws(Greek mythology) one of a nation of women warriors of Scythia (who burned off the right breast in order to use a bow and arrow more effectively)
.
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new-
americaNorth American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776
-composer
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attachments_archive
/
Merit_Aid%20Final.
Bloomberg Opinion “Give Money to
College
Students Who Need It.” 28 February, 2018, Accessed 29 January, 2020
www
.
.
/
opinion
/
/
2018-02-28
/
merit
-scholarships-don-t-help-
college
-students-who-need-it-
Elfman, Lois “Report: Diminishing Financial
Aid
for Low-
Income
Students.” Diverse: Issues In Higher Education, 16 February, 2020, Accessed 8 March, 2020 --DELETED LINK--
Ga
er, Lee “Private-
College
Presidents Urge a Commitment to Need-Based
Aid
.” Chronicle of Higher Education, 00095982, 18 January, 2013, Vol. 59, Issue 19, Accessed 27 February, 2020
Database: Academic Search Complete --DELETED LINK--
Jones, Chelsey “T
he Problerecord in chronological order; make a historical record
m
th
Merit
Aid
.” 11 December, 2014, edtrust.org
/
the-equity-line
/
the-problem-with-
merit
-
aid
/ Accessed 29 January, 20
20.
chhar, Rakesh and Cilluffo, Anthony “Key findings on the rise in
income
inequality within America’s racial and ethnic groups.” FACT TANK, 12 July, 2018
www
.pewresearch.org
/
fact-tank
/
2018
/
07
/
12
/
key-findings-on-the-rise-in-
income
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a
icas-racial-and-ethnic-groups/ Accessed 30 January, 2020
Rampell, Cath
erine. “North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776
Freebies for the Rich.” New York Times Magazine, 24 September, 2013,
www
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com
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2013
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09
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29
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magazine
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freebies-for-the-rich.html, 29 Accessed Februar
Lederman, Doug. “State’s Slow Steady Embr
of Need-Based
Aid
Total Grant
Aid
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, 30 Accessed January, 2020
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