Getting into college is harder than ever. Every year, Americans spend about $500 million on “educational consultants” who help students navigate applying to college. Most first-generation, low-income students don’t have access to those resources.
California should fund an effective college pipeline program for these first-generation students to ensure they all get a shot at college.
In the U.S., college consulting is booming. Tutoring for the SAT or ACT can cost up to $1,000. One-on-one coaching can range from $50 to $100 an hour.
For students seeking the Ivy League, Lakhani Coaching in New York says its average customer spends $58,000 — and 20% of its clients invest more than $100,000 — on college coaching services.
First-generation, low-income students like myself struggle just to pay the costs of submitting college applications — if fee waivers aren’t available.
In my case, had it not been for USC’s Bovard Scholars program, I wouldn’t be attending Stanford University. Bovard is a selective program where high-achieving students receive free support in test preparation and in applications to top universities.
Again, most first-generation, low-income students don’t have access to that support.
There are a lot of us in California, where Black and Latino families make up 44% of all households but 55% of the poorest families and 12% of the richest. By contrast, white and Asian families make up 52% of all households, 40% of the poorest and 83% of the richest.
When looking at who goes to college soon after high school, 85% of Asian students are enrolled, as are 68% of white students. But only 55% each of Black and Latino students enroll within a year of graduating and enrollment is lowest among all low-income students, at 54%.
The numbers show Cal State schools have higher acceptance rates and are highly attended by Black and Latino students. On the other hand, UC schools tend to have lower acceptance rates and more often enroll Asian American and white students. Similarly, Stanford University is the 21st most attended school among Black students and 39th among Latino students.
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Cal State schools promote economic mobility, while the UCs and other elite universities open doors to powerful places in society, said Anthony Lising Antonio, a Stanford professor who specializes in higher education equity. He was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle.
California already offers some college-going support services to groups of disadvantaged students, such as the Educational Opportunity Program and the Early Academic Outreach Program, but these programs are not accessible to every student.
The state should establish a broad program that provides students with college support. Call it the Earl Warren program, honoring the Californian and Supreme Court Chief Justice who wrote the historic desegregation opinion in the Brown v. Board of Education case.
The new program could be open to all students and give them access to workshops, college-readiness counselors, test prep and support with writing and submitting college applications.
The program wouldn’t fall under “DEI initiative” scrutiny by the Trump administration because it wouldn’t target a particular ethnic or racial group, though it could focus on an income range, first-generation status or some other disadvantage.
Rather than federal dollars, the new effort would be funded with revenues from a state tax that could be levied on owners of secondary or part-time homes valued at $1 million or more.
It would be similar to Rhode Island’s “Taylor Swift tax,” which affects people who live most of each year elsewhere. This proposal would exempt full-time residents, while providing resources to help students thrive.
In a state where many people enjoy the benefits of California, non-resident homeowners should contribute to programs that make its communities strong.
Alondra Martinez is a senior at Stanford University studying political science and communications.
(5) comments
None of you "first gen college students" are going to do anything to help this county. We all know your angle by now. Our country is filled with reprobate immigrants that want to R-word our country and hate our past for your own benefit and just pretend they want to assimilate. Stop asking for sympathy - we are done here. You do not care about me - and I do not care about you. You being at Stanford only speaks more volumes to my message.
Higher Education is cheap or free in most country. Only in America's class system do they feel the need to overcharge.
Let's start very simple: these universities are filthy rich.
- Stanford pays no property tax and is the biggest landowners in the Bay Area
- Berkeley can send masses of students to "athletic competitions" on the Atlantic Coast
- UC system spends billions to give scholarships and provide professional athletes the facilities to make money
- and each university has billions of dollars in endowments alone.
They have endowments of >$500k per student.
The lawmakers should start going after these universities and their rich leaderships and boards. The law should be a choice between:
- no property tax and no tuitions.
- students pay for education and university pays property tax and higher endowment tax (also an "vice tax" btw)
And stop being the minor league system for the NFL - let the NFL set up their own system.
Interesting guest perspective, Ms Martinez, but I didn’t realize going to college was required by law. Since it isn’t, why are we discriminating against another subset of folks to pay for it? Going to college isn’t a public benefit. You say, “The program wouldn’t fall under “DEI initiative” scrutiny by the Trump administration because it wouldn’t target a particular ethnic or racial group, though it could focus on an income range, first-generation status or some other disadvantage.” I beg to differ because your “DEI” has now become Disadvantage, Exclusion, and Income because you’re targeting a subset of people. Or “Discriminatory, Elite, and Inappropriate.”
How about you convince others of the same mindset to donate money to folks who think they deserve a public university education? Perhaps if they do so, others may follow. Although you shouldn’t get your hopes up. Regardless, I’d like to know what your thoughts are after you join the working public and see the amount of federal and state taxes you’ll be paying. Especially in California. Have a Merry Christmas!
While this sounds great, this would almost certainly be another failed government program yielding little long term result and then you would look for another source of other people's money to pay for your next idea ("free" tutoring while in college? Job search help? Subsidized internships?)
As Dirk mentioned, community college is free and those with a certain minimum GPA can automatically transfer to a UC (a friend of mine who did this years ago is now a Superior Court judge.) Students with a 2.5 GPA in high school are automatically admitted into SFSU. UCs and Cal States don't require the SAT, but those who want to improve their scores to apply elsewhere can do so with free practice tests and Kahn Academy and other similar online resources. Expensive tutors and counselors are in no way necessary to apply and be accepted to the many college options in CA and the US.
Under the Master Plan for Higher Education in CA, the UCs are supposed to be for the highest achieving high school students in the state (originally top 12%, now top 9%.) Not everyone is prepared to attend a UC, that is why state and community colleges are also part of the plan. Though recently it was found that a large number of students at UCSD take remedial math classes, and at least 25% of those could not do even elementary school math problems. This means change is needed at the K-12 level, not a new program leading to the acceptance of more students who are not ready for the rigors of a top University.
And not everyone needs a college degree to succeed. Many students could benefit from a path to the trades instead of taking out loans for a degree in a useless major that doesn't make them more employable.
Hey Alondra - have you heard, starting at a community college is almost free? Why insist on going to a 4 year university to begin with? You are sitting in your lofty Stanford classes getting a degree that prepares you for a marginally lucrative career. And you would have homeowners pay for your folly?
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