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How Does Lower Class Affect The Value Of A College Education

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Education is often seen as the foundation of innovation and development of society. (try not to start a sentence with because) Because of this perception education has been called the “Great Equalizer” implying that everyone has equal opportunity to advance and prosper in society regardless of initial economic status. Before concluding the extent to which education acts as the ‘Great Equalizer’, the stark disparities in the distribution of wealth in the United States and drastica affect family income has on the quality of education and ease of mobility for low-income students needs to be seriously considered. (needs to be a bit reworded, simple words would work effectively here)The remarkable impact that household income possesses includes …show more content…

To emphasize the worth of a college education, the “net cost of college is a negative $500,000” (Leonhardt 2014). Over the long run, one gains a half million dollars if they attended college. These kinds of figures demonstrate how education is essential to the social mobility of the lower class yet the majority of the lower class do not have a college degree which puts them in the population of people who were hurt the most by the recession and still not fully recovered, making it even more difficult for parents to invest in their child’s education (Leonhardt 2014). The shortage of lower class receiving higher education can be attributed greatly to the negative effects of a low family income, including unequipped guidance counselors and absence of awareness of programs to help aid the financial strain of college tuition. Essentially, if one was born into a low income family and did not receive a college education, they are more likely to remain low income however, a college degree increases their chances to rise socially (Greenstone 2013). Although there is the possibility of social mobility through a higher education, access to that education is severely

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