The Most Affordable Colleges For Low-Income Students - PQ for Ugrads

The Most Affordable Colleges For Low-Income Students by: Gregory Yang on June 19, 2019 | 0 Comments Comments 685 Views June 19, 2019Fans at Cameron Indoor Arena at Duke University. Courtesy photoThe nation’s most prestigious colleges may actually be the most affordable for low-income students, a new study finds. The study, by HeyTutor, found that among private four-year institutions, almost 90% of students are awarded some level of financial aid. â€Å"Our research shows that students from low-income families should not be discouraged by high sticker prices at selective schools,† Skyler Lucci, founder and CEO of HeyTutor, says. â€Å"Often, these schools will be the most affordable option while also providing more educational resources that will better prepare students for the future.†Prestigious colleges, such as Duke University, Harvard University, Stanford University, and Yale University made it in the top 10 most affordable schools in the country for low -income families. METHODOLOGYResearchers analyzed data from the National Center for Education Statistics Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and only included private, not-for-profit, degree-granting, four-year or above institutions with at least 1,000 undergraduates.Rather than look at the advertised price, the researchers instead looked at the average net price of attendance, or what students actually pay out of pocket, for students in the lowest income brackets, or $0-$30,000 and $30,001-$48,000. It’s important to note that the study focuses on net price, which is found by subtracting the average amount of federal, state, local, institutional, and scholarship aid from the total published price of attendance, which includes published tuition and fees, books, supplies, room, board, and other expenses.Lucci says the hope of the study is to give applicants a better understanding of the financial aid process and what to look for when evaluating their options.   Ã¢â ‚¬Å"As college sticker prices have increased, so has the gap between the published prices and what students actually pay,† Lucci says. â€Å"It’s important for families to understand that for many colleges, the prices advertised are not a good indication of what a given student might ultimately pay out of pocket.†MAKING EDUCATION FINANCIALLY ACCESSIBLE FOR ALLAt Duke University, which ranked as the most affordable college for low-income applicants, the school says it’s committed to ensuring that a Duke education remains accessible to students from all socioeconomic backgrounds. â€Å"Duke is fortunate to have committed supporters whose generosity have allowed us to improve the university’s accessibility,† Gary G. Bennett, vice provost for undergraduate education at Duke, says.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Ensuring that Duke remains affordable is a primary strategic goal and a challenge, given the real and rising costs of delivering transformative undergraduate experiences. The university offers more than just financial aid to help reduce the cost of a degree.Low-income students at Duke have access to additional services such as enrichment programming, mentoring, faculty and staff advising, academic support, and networking services.Part of the reason why private schools, like Duke, can offer so much to low-income students is their connection to philanthropic donors. â€Å"Like many of our peers, we support undergraduate financial aid primarily through philanthropic sources,† Bennett says.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"There are many strategic demands on these resources, but Duke’s leadership has consistently chosen to make investments that improve the accessibility and affordability of our undergraduate experience. We now have the most academically qualified student population in our history, with as many first-generation college students as there are international students.†Of course, the accessibility issue might come down more to accept ance rates rather than cost. Admissions can be a much larger barrier considering the acceptance rate to get into many of the schools on this list was less than 10% for last falls entering class. Stanford, for example, admitted just 4.81% freshmen last fall. Harvards rate was 5.4%, Yale was 6.32%, the University of Chicago and MIT were both 7.94%, and the University of Pennsylvania was 9.44%.STUDENTS WANT TO BE AS DEBT-FREE AS POSSIBLEThe fact of the matter is college is getting increasingly more expensive. But with the increase in cost, experts say, applicants nowadays are searching for more ways to decrease the out-of-pocket cost. â€Å"Despite tuition fees rising every year, low-income applicants seem to have gotten savvier, and this is what made college education more accessible to them in some cases,† Jill Gonzalez, an analyst at WalletHub, says. The personal finance company published a study last year that analyzed in-depth how colleges fare in terms of cost, resources, and outcomes. Gonzalez says applicants should be selective about what college they choose to attend and how much debt they hope to accrue. â€Å"Applicants should try to get financial aid and apply for the scholarships they have a better chance of getting,† Gonzalez says. â€Å"Students should also be aware that they can attend a community college for the first two years, and then transfer to a four-year institution. This could save them thousands  of dollars of debt.Despite the growing costs of a higher education degree, Gonzalez says, it’s still worth it in the long run. â€Å"Higher education is one of the best ways a person can invest in their future,† she says. â€Å"Its important for colleges to continue offering financial aid, grants, and scholarships to ensure that low-income applicants get an equal chance to education.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data[" datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");tDONT MISS: NEW DATA: B-SCHOOLS WITH THE BEST ROI or THE MOST (AND LEAST) EXPENSIVE TOP B-SCHOOLS Page 1 of 11

Structural Stereotypes of the Characters in The Importance of Being Earnest - Literature Essay Samples

Names play a pivotal role in Oscar Wildes drama The Importance of Being Earnest. The naming of the characters is deliberate and well thought-out. Their name alludes to the pigeonhole for each of their characters. A name is a typecast and in Victorian times, when this play was written, a name would have determined whether you were to become a prince or a pauper. It is ironic that a child is at the mercy of its parents for its name just like the characters in this play were predetermined by Wilde. An expectation for the way in which society is run is also a label and Oscar Wilde sets out to prove the triviality of these brands through his characters use of wit, irony, and humor. The stereotypes of the five main characters in this play help to reveal societal masks through comedic timing.The comic creation of Lady Bracknell is a marvelous outlet for the actions of the plot and to obtain a glimpse into the ideals of the Victorian Era2E Lady Bracknell is the quintessential matronly elite who stresses good breeding above all else. Some of Wildes funniest lines are played out through her character. Also, it is Lady Bracknell that introduces Wildes views on marriage and how it falls short of the romantic ideal. When Lady Bracknell is interviewing Jack to be a candidate for marrying her daughter, Gwendolyn, her physical and linguistic actions illustrate that she is disturbed by Jacks disreputable background. For Instance, when Jack tells her he was found in a handbag at the train station in the Brighton line, she states that, The Line is immaterial. (Act I p.1439). This shows how greatly Jacks lack of a material background distresses her. Lady Bracknell is a stereotype for the importance in Victorian culture of a good upbringing and family name.Gwendolyn is Lady Bracknells daughter and is the reason for Lady Bracknells snobbery towards Jack. Gwendolyn is in love with Jack whom she knows as Ernest. Her frivolity is stereotypical of the time period in regards to thoughts about marriage. For example, she says she was destined to love Ernest because of his name (Act I p.1435). This displays her obsession with her fantasy for the ideal romance. But, many of the epigrams in the play denote the ironic fact that Wilde felt there was a cruel reality to marriage.Much like Gwendolyn is Cecily, in as much as they are both set on their romantic fantasies about marriage. She even holds the same opinion about the name Ernest being the essence of perfection. Cecily has even gone as far as to write love letters to herself and to imagine a proposal from Algernon (Ernest) before she has even met him (Act III p.1452-3). It is amusing that she would not trust her fianc to write them on his own which is a hint at the fact he would never be able to write something on his own that would fulfill all of her expectations. Cecily is also the one to unequivocally assert the theme of the play when she says, I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicke d and being really good all the time. That would be hypocrisy. (Act III p.1445). Both Cecily and Gwendolyn are obviously aroused by the dangerousness of a mans character. Wilde has reversed his intent in a comedic manner because what he was alluding to is the people who pretend to be moral all the time but in reality live corruptly. He is commenting on the fact that society compels people to wear a mask.Algernon is a symbol of the upper crust British bachelor. Wilde even leads into the play by illustrating that Algernon enjoys the finer things in life, (dining, artistic culture, and music) through his conversation with Lane about his piano playing (Act I p.1427). Algernon is also depicted as over-indulgent through the visually comical expression of always eating. His opinions about love and marriage are hilariously contradictory. This is exemplified in the line, If ever I get married, Ill certainly try to forget the fact. (Act I p.1429). It would be completely improbable that someon e would forget that they are married. Algernon is a typical pseudo-intellectual, creating witty phrases about life that have little value.Jack, or Ernest, is similar to Algernon because they both live the life of Victorian over-indulgent Victorian bachelors. They live their lives like works of art, in as much as they are playing grounds that they can manipulate to their pleasing. This is part of Jacks comedic charm. He is the vessel for the entire play because it is his lying that creates the humorous conflict of morals. It is also his name that creates the pun for the drama. Jack treats solemn events with casual abandon and yet he becomes stressed over trifles. For Instance, when Cecily comes outside to tell Jack that Ernest is in the living room, after just having told, Miss Prism and Chasuble that he was dead, he just rolls with the punches and acts completely unaffected yet; he bothers Scotland Yard over the loss of his cigarette case (Act III p.1449 and Act I p.1429).The Import ance of Being Earnest is a comedy of manners that ridicules social stereotypes and breaks down societal masks. The five main characters help to highlight the differences between men and women and to poke fun at their beliefs about love and marriage. Through Wildes comedy and wit it becomes apparent that this drama is as much a microcosm of our ideals in the present as in his time. The message through the humor of Lady Bracknell, Algernon, Jack, Gwendolyn, and Cecily is to appreciate the beauty in life and to let go of the confused sense of values and stereotypes that society imposes.