By Amir Said
Colleges, Universities--Institutions of higher learning--have always existed in a segregated world. Prior to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, this segregation was primarily the result of volatile social and racial attitudes. But by the mid-1980s, this form of segregation had declined considerably. In fact, by the mid-1990s, segregated enrollment at American institutions of higher learning was caused more by economic realities than social and racial attitudes. Even still, public and private institutions cost less; moreover, there was more proportional government and institutional financial aid available to students who needed it. This made it possible for millions of lower-income Americans to attend college. But now, the plunging of the U.S. economy has threatened to push the levels of segregated enrollment back to the days of Bull Connor's Alabama.
Nearly one decade removed from the seemingly "easy times" of the 1990s, and most (if not all) American colleges and universities have significantly stepped up their tuition fees. In fact, the cost has increased so exponentially that it has effectively priced millions of Americans outside of the possibility of the formal higher educational experience. Now add this present economy into the mix. More specifically, consider the fact that many municipalities and colleges and universities have lost loads of money in the stock market's steady decline. The hemorrhaging of the stock market has prompted a massive cut in "non-essential" programs and services. And yep, that includes programs and services that previously helped people get into college.
Combine the rising cost of higher education with the increasing cuts in financial aid, and what do you get: disturbingly high segregated enrollment at colleges and universities. Private schools, which maintain strict enrollment capacity quotas, will now "price out" even more people than ever before now, leaving public schools to brunt the rejected private school applicants. But public schools will not possibly be able to handle this influx of new students, and thus, the cash-strapped states will inevitably hike up tuition rates. This means that U.S. institutions of higher learning will be even more strictly populated by those fortunate enough to afford it. The ripple effect of this of course is the fact that the poor will become poorer, the lower middle class will slip into poverty, the upper middle class will collapse into the new middle class, and the rich, well, the rich will becoming even more wealthy and powerful.
Can this impending doom be overturned? Not likely. It requires far too many pivotal pieces of a puzzle. Pieces I must add that are being hoarded and withheld from a number of prominent Americans. Yet, the combination of hope and execptional strategy is a tangible abstract, that if used appropriately, can wield amazing outcomes.
