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THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION® Students on the Margins For many low-income families, college is a question mark ©2017 by The Chronicle of Higher Education Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, forwarded (even for internal use), hosted online, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For bulk orders or special requests, contact The Chronicle at [email protected] ©2017 THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION INC. TABLE OF CONTENTS Where the Journey to College Is No Fairy Tale For seniors at one low- income high school, spring is marked by hope, frustration, 4 and limited choices The Long Last Miles to College How two low-income students weathered 12 an uncertain season Poor Kids, Limited Horizons The support they need to overcome barriers to aspirational careers comes 20 too little, too late Eric Hoover writes about Scott Carlson is a senior admissions trends, enrollment- writer who writes about the management challenges, and the cost and value of college. meaning of Animal House, among Email him at scott.carl- other issues. He’s on Twitter [email protected]. @erichoov, and his email address is [email protected]. Cover photo of Rhiana Gunn-Wright, who grew up on the south side of Chicago, by Lexey Swall 22 CAMPUS VIOLENCE THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION / OCTOBER 2017 ©2017 THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION INC. Where the Journey to College Is No Fairy Tale For seniors at one low-income high school, spring is marked by hope, frustration, and limited choices By ERIC HOOVER dallas n late May, Seagoville High School’s Class of 2017 gathered for a ceremo- ny that some students welcomed and others dreaded. It was “signing day,” celebrating those bound for college, especially recipients of big academic scholarships and grants. The lucky students, sporting T-shirts from vari- ous campuses, sat on the right side of the auditorium. IThe rest of the seniors — who had to sit in the middle — filled twice as many seats. They were “the undecideds,” unsure where they were going to college. Though a few were slackers, many were top students with sterling grades, solid test scores, and clear ambitions. They wanted to pursue a major, a career, a life. They just weren’t sure yet which, if any, options they could aford. At afuent high schools where savvy students apply to scores of selective col- leges, May marks the end of the admissions cycle. Here, most applicants were low-income, and the timeline was diferent. Closure was a ways of. LAURA BUCKMAN FOR THE CHRONICLE 4 STUDENTS ON THE MARGINS THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION / OCTOBER 2017 Just before 11 a.m., hip-hop songs blared as and bright dresses, and houses in the nearest sub- restless teenagers waited for the event to start. division go for $500 down. The old oaks shading Some in the middle rows chatted and goofed the school’s parking lot can’t be seen from the col- around. One young man dropped gum wrappers lege-advising ofce; it’s windowless. in a classmate’s hair. Ms. Morgan started last November. She was Other undecideds sat quietly, blanketed by hired by the Academic Success Program, a non- doubts. One was an aspiring teacher, hoping a profit group that provides college counselors to 17 state university would give her more grants so she schools in the Dallas Independent School District. wouldn’t have to start at a community college. One The group’s executive director told Ms. Morgan that was parentless, eager to study science, waiting to she was walking into a tough situation, the kind of see financial-aid packages. One was an undocu- job that tends to burn people out. The previous ad- mented immigrant accepted by a half-dozen col- viser had left after only a couple of months. When leges her family couldn’t aford; as the ceremony be- Ms. Morgan started, just after Thanksgiving, the gan, she felt embarrassed. admissions cycle was well underway. She had no The assembly, like those held at many high college-counseling experience. schools each spring, was meant to mimic the fan- Ms. Morgan had taught high-school students, all fare that football stars get when they commit to Di- of them poor, in American Samoa, an experience vision I programs. The teachers who organized the that drew her to college access. At Seagoville she event wanted to show these students some love. And quickly saw how poverty entwined with other cir- why not? Nearly all 281 seniors had been accepted cumstances to shape students’ views of higher edu- to at least one college, and several had received a cation — and their chances of reaching it. All win- good deal of money. That was especially good news ter she summoned students to her cramped ofce, at a public high school where four-fifths of students where colorful pennants hang from the wall. Low- are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, and key and soft-spoken, she asked about their plans. few have parents who even started college. Most hadn’t started a single college application. Still, acceptances don’t guarantee access to high- She advised unaccompanied youths, such as the er education. When the neediest students end up young woman who had no bed. She advised the with too little aid, an acceptance can feel hollow, sons and daughters of undocumented immigrants even cruel. In the fairy-tale version of college ad- who feared that completing the Free Application for missions, applicants find the right “fit” by weighing Federal Student Aid would imperil their families. one institution’s qualities against another’s. Yet the She advised a young woman who wanted to enroll quaint notion of fit derives from an assumption: full time while caring for her 4-year-old son. that everyone’s got plenty of choices. And she advised students who were homeless. Many students don’t, as Sara Morgan knew all Victoria Denestan was one of them. Last fall she too well. The school’s lone college adviser, she had applied to colleges and completed the Fafsa on her guided seniors through an anxious spring, help- own. Ever since her parents split up, during her ju- ing them apply for financial aid. Later, dozens were nior year, she and her mother had been squatting in required to submit extra financial documents, a a house, knowing they could get booted at any time. demoralizing process that often delayed their aid She worked shifts at a movie theater, earning $150 awards. Some were waiting for colleges to award a week, which helped pay for groceries. Her mother state grants that could make or break their plans. was unemployed. As May neared its end, some students still didn’t Though Ms. Denestan had an acceptance from a know what it would all cost, and some who did were state university, she would need to take out loans, disappointed. which she feared. She knew she would have to bor- So Ms. Morgan, 28, understood why many se- row plenty later to fulfill her dream: a doctorate in niors weren’t in a celebratory mood. Wearing a psychology. blouse, skirt, and low-top Converse All Stars, she So, on Ms. Morgan’s suggestion, she called the walked to the microphone. She acknowledged University of North Texas at Dallas one day and those in limbo, where they were likely to remain for asked if it would consider her for one of its top weeks. “There are a lot of people sitting in the mid- scholarships. In her application essay, she wrote dle who have decided to go to college, and, unfor- that when hardship “came crashing into me like tunately, are still waiting on financial aid,” she said, a bulldozer,” she realized what would allow her to urging them to hang in there. Yet the hours were overcome it: Education. disappearing fast: Graduation was nine days away. Early one afternoon in April, Ms. Denestan sat down at the long table in Ms. Morgan’s ofce just eagoville High School, a beige square of after the third-period bell rang. She wore a camou- a building, stands on the southeastern edge flage cap and big hoop earrings. As she dug into a Sof Dallas County, far from the city’s mirrored bag of Chester’s Flamin’ Hot Fries, she was thinking towers. Just down the road, goats tread green lots, about her scholarship interview, less than 24 hours the Migalitos Supermercado sells local tomatillos away. Outgoing and expressive, Ms. Denestan was OCTOBER 2017 / THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS ON THE MARGINS 5 apt to impress anyone during face-to-face inter- loans, leaving him with a $10,000 gap. He knew actions. But she worried that her so-so standard- that as a dependent he could take out only $4,000 ized-test scores would sink her. more because his father, a handyman, wouldn’t Ms. Morgan, huddling with another student at a qualify for a PLUS Loan. And he knew that he computer, looked over at her. “Victoria, we have to lacked a co-signer for a private loan. do interview prep.” Discouraged, Mr. Hernandez came to Ms. Mor- “OK. We can do that.” gan’s ofce and slumped low in a chair. His black “Can we do it after school today?” headphones rested on the collar of his black polo, Ms.

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