
When a College Takes on American Poverty - jedwhite
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/05/college-poor-students/560972/?single_page=true
======
Tharkun
Poverty is such a difficult and insidious issue. Once you're poor, it's very
hard to get out of poverty. Being poor is very expensive for society as a
whole, given that poverty correlates strongly with all kinds of other negative
things (poor physical and mental health, certain kinds of crime, unstable
family conditions etc). And it is often hereditary.

This college seems like it's doing amazing things, but I will never understand
why first world countries don't make poverty reduction a bigger priority :(

~~~
Karishma1234
> Once you're poor, it's very hard to get out of poverty.

What % of people born in poverty are not poor by the time they are 30 ? Does
anyone have that number ?

My intuition is that the number is higher.

~~~
acover
I don't know if this is a reputable source, however it claims in the USA 40%
of men raised in the bottom fifth end up in the bottom fifth. That is about 4x
as likely as a man in the top fifth.[0]

This is much lower than I expected.

[0] - [https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/01/social-
mobili...](https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/01/social-mobility-
america/)

~~~
gizmo686
40% is only 2x as likely as random chance.

Still, I am not sure that the bottom 5th is what we want to be looking at. I
would like the think that the insidious effects of poverty don't start until
well below the 1/5 mark.

~~~
acover
It seems to say that the to be in the bottom fifth in the US household income
must be less than $22,095 (2001)[0]. That's very close to the federal poverty
line. Not exactly but close.

The way news an documentaries talk about the poverty trap I was expecting
80%+.

[0] - [http://ftp.iza.org/dp1938.pdf](http://ftp.iza.org/dp1938.pdf)

~~~
gizmo686
Adjusting for inflation, that would be $31,615 in todays dollars, or about
150% the poverty level for a family of 3.

Not great, but I would still expect someone at that level to have
substantially better odds than someone below the poverty line.

~~~
acover
The poverty line for a family of 3 was $14,630. So you are basically right.
Remember it includes all the people below that level.

------
ogennadi
> Amarillo College, in Texas, is working hard to accommodate low-income
> students

such as by offering to pay vehicle-repair bills for families with only one
car, reimbursing (through federal grants) baby-sitting bills, having 8 week
mini-semesters, having administrators simulate homelessness so they can better
help their students etc.

~~~
protomyth
> only one car

The "only one car problem" is pretty big. It is generally not kept in good
repair (preventative costs go out the windows when you are poor) and the loss
of transportation is often a job ending event. I used this to help put
together a rural health grant (Dr & Mobile Unit comes to you). It was
interesting. Obviously, the places where it hits hardest don't have public
transportation.

I would be interested what federal grant they received that allowed them to
reimburse baby-sitting. This is one of the most difficult areas to fund. Even
with Head Start and Early Head Start, it is often a chore to get enough slots
for college students.

One thing they don't seem to have a problem with that other schools do is
attracting teachers. The accreditation committees have raised the requirements
for college teachers and this cuts down the pool and also increases costs
where they could go to other programs.

------
RickJWagner
Modern-day college is a huge rip-off, especially book sales.

I'm waiting for a really progressive college to take MOOCs and make a degree
program for the masses, one that carries enough prestige to be comparable.
Hopefully, that day will come soon.

------
poster123
The woman profiled has six children. The government cannot afford to meet all
the financial needs of people who have large families and then decide they
want a college degree.

~~~
mcny
I am sorry but I disagree with you a little even though I mostly agree with
you.

I sincerely believe people who have more than one child (perhaps with
exceptions for natural twins and so on which I assume is rare) ought to be
increasingly more responsible for their children. Once you have a hockey team
over several years (not one of those rare cases of twins or triplets) I am
honestly able to look at someone's eyes and say "you're on your own, buddy".
However, that is besides the point.

The point is that we can reduce the cost of college. It is already absurd that
state universities have to compete against the likes of Colgate and Colorado
College. We can and must reduce regulatory burden on our state schools while
requiring drastic cutdowns in spending on non-essentials. We don't need a big
football team in any state school. We don't need an athletic complex. Strip
away anything that isn't related to actual education or scientific research.
No school has an airport. No school has a rocket launch pad. Why do we need
multi-million dollar sports centers or dormitories? Why do we need a police
force? Cut pay for all administration and force them to be at or below the pay
for a tenured professor. In fact, get rid of most of the administration. A lot
of the things they do is simply not the job of an educational institution. If
the likes of Harvard and Yale want to do those things they are more than
welcome. However, keeping costs low should be a primary concern for state
schools and we should empower as well as require them to do so.

~~~
gvhst
While I believe I understand your position, I think we also need to address
the affordability and availability of contraception as well as the existence
of sex education in public schools. While it is one thing when someone
deliberately wants to have an above average number of children, if one doesn't
have the knowledge and resources to conduct adequate family planning you can't
exactly fault them and deny them help.

------
caio1982
Why was the original title changed by the poster? It reads "Colleges Are No
Match for American Poverty".

~~~
JohnnyConatus
The Atlantic and other sites regularly change A/B test article titles so they
likely changed it

