Aarthi Ganapathi

HON 100
Assignment 3, Farmer
Due November 9, 2015

I immediately feel a need to highlight the inequality in college success rates that exists
between people of different socioeconomic backgrounds. For some people and cultures, college
success simply means going to college. For some communities that means being a collegiate
athlete, getting good grades, or graduating with a job offer into a stable career. Hopefully every
individual has the opportunity to seek higher education and define and achieve success through
that process. However, this simply isn't the case. Institutions especially like the university come
with long-held ideals, traditions, and prejudices. As a society, I strongly believe we can benefit
most though when we derail these institutionalized biases and structure higher education as a
resource for those who value it most and will give the most return back to society.
Access to a college education is a scarce resource which society has to decide how it
allocates. Right now, it is mainly available to adolescents from higher socio-economic status,
but some of the hardest workers I've met in my brief time on campus are the people who are
first-generation college students or come from rural areas where going to college is not the
norm. These individuals deserve the same access that people of high-socioeconomic status have
into the university.
Remedies to the current trends in university going student population should really
come from the root. As people who've been blessed with the opportunity to attend a school like
the University of Washington, we've been placed in a position which we can leverage to inspire
diverse generations to come. Reaching out to the community through programs like the Dream
Project, UW Pipeline, and promoting efforts like the Educational Opportunities Program
(EOP), we can encourage a legacy which closes the gap between socio-economic status
holders. We can influence hoe educational trends are evolving and make actual progress in
redefining education as an equitable resource.
In the long-run, some things may be unchangeable. SAT classes may always be offered
to those who will pay and slave through years of preparation (like me). High schools which
provide the most preparation for collegiate life may always be found in richer neighborhoods
whose PTAs can fund higher quality education (like mine). But perhaps we can show colleges
that successful students can come from any SAT score. Or show students in underprivileged
areas that higher education can be an option for them too and thus expand the diversity that
enters the university system. In the end, this issue can be greatly remedied as long as we target
the source, and inspire high school students to overcome any perceived societal restrictions on
their entry into and belonging in the university community. As a society we need to stop
applying band-aid solutions by mandating quotas for university acceptance. Every student
should have an equal opportunity to enter the system based on merit, and every applicant
should fully understand that this is the case. Hopefully, one day, there won't even be a section
on the application for race, and perhaps family income can come in only when determining
scholarships later on. Hopefully, socio-economic issues will no longer reflect projected success.