Tamara Draut's Argument Essay: The Growing College Gap

College-it is such an important word for all high school graduates. College signifies that we are now adults, and have to be ready for the real world. However, for some students, going to college is a luxury. This is the reality for many students that are underprivileged, and wish to attend college. While their some students that are able to go to universities because their parents are able to afford without financial aid. This gives rise to the college gap, the relationship between the wealthy and the underprivileged students going to a postsecondary institution. Tamara Draut’s essay on this subject, The Growing College Gap, states the truth of our nation’s education system when it comes to universities and colleges, and the tuition of going

to one. Draut’s rhetoric strategies on providing information about how the college gap will continue to increase were effective. The strategies that she used were history of financial aid provided by the government, how the financial aid from the government has decreased overtime, and the increase of the college gap is also contributed to race and income of the student.
Throughout history, the level of sophistication of a society has been measured through education. This is due to the belief of that educated members may benefit in the society. For example, helping society to become a safer place for future generations, and solving the issues of society, such as unemployment and the increase of the cost of life. The United States government noticed this belief, which led to the GI Bill in 1944 and the Higher Education Act (HEA) in 1965. The GI Bill helped soldiers coming from World War II to get an education, but this cost the government $91 billion, in the current economy (271). Then in 1965, the HEA was passed under President Lyndon Johnson, under his domestic agenda, to provide financial aid for all future college students in the United States. These two legislations revolutionized postsecondary education for generations to come. Draut noticed that the college gap decreased since low-income students were able to attend college (271). However, this was decades before the 1980’s, in which the college gap increased. Draut explains the reason why this happens is due how the United States government failed to notice how the tuition for college was exceeding the average family income (271). The financial aid that once allowed low-income students to attend college only covered a fraction of the cost. In result, the enrollment gap between the wealthy and underprivileged students grew once again. An example of how the government failed to notice this trend was how the grants like the Pell Grant, were covering less than half of the tuition (272). As well as, the sudden shift of need-based awards to merit-aid awards, this is how students receive the money to attend to go college (271). An example of merit-based scholarships in Florida is the Bright Futures are given to students that have met the requirements of the SAT or ACT, the amount of volunteer hours you have completed, high school student weighted GPA, and unweight GPA. An example of a need-based scholarship in the Sunshine States is the Florida Student Assistance Grant Program (FSAG). These two details exemplify how the history of financial aid has contributed to the current college gap.
Therefore, the college gap has increased since the 1980’s but the government isn’t the only contributor. Race and income of the student are other contributors to the increase of the college gap. Based on the income of the student’s family, the financial aid given by the government can either cover the whole cost of going to college or only a part of it. Draut explains how minorities, such as Hispanics/Latinos, and African-Americans have difficult time in go to college (272). The reason behind this reality is that most students aren’t able to afford the cost of going to a postsecondary institution because of their income. In some cases, the student doesn’t meet the requirements for a full ride through financial aid from the government or the requirements of the university and/or college they apply to have a program that covers the entire cost of going to their institution. In 2000, the enrollment gaps between Caucasian, Hispanic/Latino, and African-Americans students were higher than they were in the 1972 (272). The gap between Caucasian students and African-American students was “11 percentage points, up only from 5 percentage points in 1972,” (272). Then the gap between Caucasian and Hispanic/Latino students was “13 percentage points…, up from a 5 percentage point in 1972,” (272). However, the students that are considered to be minorities still go to college, even though some are unable to pay for it. They have various options are to work hard while there in high school, and apply to merit-based scholarship, ask for a student loan, and pay it back. These students either work full time or part time to lessen the cost. Nonetheless, it is difficult to maintain a job while going to college. Work schedules might clash with the classes at the campus, the amount work a student must do for a single class can be daunting, and the amount of hours one must to do for college and work may be exhausting. One of two things will happen with this student: drop out of college, not finishing the degree they working on, and still have to pay off the loan, or continue to go to the classes, earn the degree, but getting the degree might take longer than a student who doesn’t have a job.
In essence, the college gap between the wealthy and the underprivileged students will continue to increase.

The effect of the continual growth of the college gap will be how future high school graduates will be unable to attend college. This is already reflected in society, especially when job occupations, such as doctors and nurses, will be needed and figuring out a mathematical equation to discover more planets out of our universe or how the social demographic has changed in a city, there will very few people that are able to solve this. Draut explains the reason why the college gap is the cause of this issue: the history of the gap has increased overtime, the decrease of the financial aid provided by the government, and how race and income are contributors to the gap. These reasons are effective in informing the audience of the future of postsecondary education because Draut uses statistics when she presents how the gap has increased since the 1980’s, the enrollment gap between the race of the student and their incomes, and provides the history of how the financial aid system was created, which still used to administer financial aid to present and future high school graduates. Draut also gives examples of how financial aid has changed throughout American history, and how much the aid covers, in a general scale. As well as, how college is accessible to the students that already can afford going to college, and complete their degree. Draut uses all of these strategies that connects with each other, and combines them to create an effective strong-response

essay.