“Education is the key to unlock the golden door to freedom.” – George Washington Carver
People generally enroll in college with dreams of creating lives like the ones their parents provided, or better. Ambitious, and often anxious, students enter collegiate
Alicia P. Peoples
The current discourse on the merits of post-secondary education, touches on shifting values and the demand for tangible benefits for the working class. Ideas about the public good of higher education have been eclipsed by private interests and the concept of an individual’s responsibility to contribute to the advancement of society. Education stimulates decision-making, productivity and direct engagement in civil society. However, the higher education social contract is unclear, and convoluted, calling for a transparent agreement establishing more equitable terms.
While a post-secondary degree, even a two-year degree, increases earning potential and social access, substantial benefits that lead to sustainable personal gains greatly depend on a variety of factors. American social systems and social institutions are often operating in contradiction to articulated social goals and outcomes. First generation college students navigate multifaceted and intersectional identities while contending with the barriers related to those identities and social circumstances. Moreover, family relations, friendships, community, and in many cases, employment ties, and entanglements impact one’s growth trajectory.
Marginalized and disenfranchised populations are often taxed with costs not all social groups encounter. Poverty taxes include increased healthcare costs, penalty costs, opportunity costs, higher borrowing rates, time, inequitable housing costs, etc. For people living paycheck to paycheck, everything takes longer, feels harder, costs more and increases mortality. The challenges facing racialized, minoritized and disadvantaged populations are not explicitly addressed by the strategic plans of higher education institutions. Clear paths to sustainable progress are not guaranteed, outlined or prioritized, creating conditions for disappointment, discouragement and trauma for individuals who have faced generational disenfranchisement and oppression.
If higher education institutions aim to provide access to personal development opportunities, social capital and self-empowerment tools beyond credentialing, institutional strategic planning will need to incorporate a focus on awareness, social equity, justice, diversity, mental health, human development, community-building and financial literacy. In the plight to increase human capital for the workforce, federal, state, local and professional agencies will need to investigate how these areas impact enrollment populations to establish policies and procedures that reflect the values and practices that empower them. Financial allocations must reflect an understanding of the institutional effectiveness goals, what is required to attain them, and the real value for target student success outcomes. Higher education leadership must emphasize its key role in a vision of a society that centers, involves and supports people in the community.
Students often work several jobs to make ends meet during their studies, impacting their academic performance, health, relationships and ability to persist with their studies. Additionally, the lack of cultural capital and the confusion around the financial costs of obtaining a college degree have become deterrents to exploring higher learning prospects and degree attainment. Virtual learning options, which have expanded since the pandemic, have had both beneficial and adverse effects on the quality of higher education, access to education and student success.
Virtual education has been a viable option for working students, parenting students, military-affiliated students, rural students, transgender students, students with transportation concerns and students with disabilities. Yet these options have, in some cases, facilitated greater social isolation and disconnect from the environments, relationships and resources provided to support student success. Virtual learning requires additional readiness data, as well as mechanisms for tracking and for guaranteeing support.
Increasing options for obtaining education have not necessarily equated to increased access to education. Earned degrees have not always translated into higher wage positions. Advances in technology have not necessarily eased workloads for the working class. Despite equity efforts, income gains for disenfranchised populations, including for women, continue to lag.
If the trends of divestment and loan debt continue in their respective directions, a less educated and credentialed society will lack the necessary skill and preparation to confront the economic and existential challenges facing our world today. While higher education institutions and communities in their service regions have found themselves in relatively depressed states, there is hope. Despite increasing inequity, social disparities, disillusionment with American education, and professionals exiting the field, all hope is not lost. To believe in a future for humanity is to believe that we have a place in it and have the power to create it. This seed brings us back to the fundamentals.
Partnering with networks like Achieving the Dream, committing to promise programs, and establishing initiatives, like credentialing as you go, all work to foster confidence, encouragement and amplified hope. Systematically renewing our commitment to empowering students demonstrates an intention to fulfill promises and to strengthen the social contract. While we work to figure out what kind of society we aim to become, we must prioritize higher learning to have the capacity and vision to cultivate it along the way.
Alicia P. Peoples is the Norfolk Campus Student Center Associate Director at Tidewater Community College, as well as an educational consultant and personal development coach. She is currently enrolled in Old Dominion University’s Community College Leadership doctoral program, focusing on student success, professional development and neurodiversity.
