Government financial aid for students should be based solely on merit.

Government financial

aid

based on

merit

turns education from a right available to all students into a privilege primarily for the wealthy. "[T

]

Accept space

]

he increased

use

of

merit

aid

is associated with a decrease in

enrollment

of low-

income

and minority students."

This

quote from a study done by Amanda L. Griffith, a professor of economics at Wake Forest University, was cited in a statement calling for an end to

merit

based financial

aid

which was issued by a group of private

college

presidents (Gardner). Making financial

aid

entirely dependent upon

merit

makes

college

education even more

class

and race entitled (and biased) than it is already. As Catherine Rampell wrote, “

Merit

metrics like SAT scores tend to closely correlate with family

income

; about 1 in 5 students from households with

income

over $250,000 receives

merit

aid

from his or her school. For families making less than $30,000, it’s 1 in 10” (Rampell). Basing financial

aid

for students on "

merit

" serves to lock low-

income

people into poverty; regardless of whether it was intended or not,

merit

-based financing

also

has racial and gender bias.

Also

, the very term

merit

based is misleading. As Chelsea Jones put it, “There is a

misnomer

Suggestion

Misnomer

in a term commonly used in higher education:

merit

aid

. The

use

of '

merit

’ implies

Conti

(United Kingdom) a region created by territorial division for the purpose of local government

County

2

excellence

Suggestion

Excellence

or worthy of praise, but unfortunately, in

this

context,

merit

is often synonymous with privilege.” The truth is, many low

income

students who cannot obtain

merit

-based scholarships are just as smart as their higher

income

counterparts who can get the

merit

-based financial

aid

but they happen to be unable to take part in the various extracurricular activities that play a big role in determining whether they are a star candidate for a

merit

-based scholarship or not. A low-

income

student

not only might not have the ability to attend extracurricular activities depending on where her or his school is located, they might

also

have to

work

part-

time

just to make ends meet even if their school had those opportunities (Jones).

Also

, are students with disabilities that make it difficult or impossible to participate in extracurricular activities, going to be less able to secure

merit

based financial

aid

?

Lastly

, single mothers who have one child or more to take care of,

in addition

to

class

and possibly

work

as well, would be unfairly impacted by a decision to make government financial

aid

for

student

's

merit

based.

This

would, and already does, make it gender biased. That, in combination with the fact that women who are equally qualified still tend to get paid less than men for the same jobs, makes

this

sexist. While the amount of money

that is

dedicated to

merit

based financial

aid

increases, the amount of money available for need based financial

aid

proportionately decreases.

Likewise

, while the amount of

merit

based financial

aid

increases, the number of students who receive need-based

aid

decreases - IE Pell Grant. The result is fewer black students on the campus: Griffith, an assistant professor of economics at Wake Forest University, found that “the

use

of

merit

aid

is associated with changes in the socioeconomic and racial composition of the

study

Suggestion

student

body.” According to the report, within three to five years of introducing a

merit

aid

program, the two top tiers of private colleges saw their share of Pell Grant

Conti

(United Kingdom) a region created by territorial division for the purpose of local government

County

3

recipients

Suggestion

Recipients

fall by 6 percentage points. At bottom-tier schools, the proportion of Pell Grant recipients

initially

rose but

Accept comma addition

rose, but

ultimately dropped by 2 percentage points within 10 years of the creation of

such

a program. The study

also

found that the introduction of a

merit

aid

program led to a reduction in the representation of black students at top-tier schools (

qtd

.

in

Suggestion

In

Burd 5). Another problem with

merit

based financial

aid

is that colleges and universities are dedicating a lot of resources to attracting “desirable” students who are high scoring and have high achievements.

This

is all to enhance the university's prestige. But what of everyone else? What of those who have disabilities or those who must help take care of siblings or other relatives with disabilities? What of the students who have to

work

part

time

or even full

time

to get by and are not able to spend as much

time

on their

class

work

as they would like, or as their

class

work

really requires, having lower grades

as a result

? What of the LGBTQ students of

color

a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect

colour

? David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, (a civil rights organization focused on the empowerment of LGBTQ people) and former executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, summarized it by saying: The ability for postsecondary institutions to provide credentials, certificates and degrees that are required for certain types of jobs are

further

stratified or

further

marginalizing individuals who are from communities that are most under supported or least likely to have access to the high-quality schools…without need-based financial

aid

(qtd.

in

Suggestion

In

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(United Kingdom) a region created by territorial division for the purpose of local government

County

4 Elfman). Making

student

aid

merit

based only for them would effectively shut them out. Statistically speaking, there is plenty of evidence showing that white students are

much

Suggestion

many

more

Suggestion

More

likely to receive

merit

based financial

aid

than students of

color

a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect

colour

(Racial Breakdown of Financial

Aid

). At the same

time

, black and Chicana people earn less than white people do (Kochhar and Cilluffo). Taken together, making financial

aid

merit

based only serves to

further

entrap people of

color

a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect

colour

in a vicious cycle of poverty and inequality. It is white supremacist regardless of whether

that is

the intent of those who trying to implement it. In a country that disproportionately incarcerates people of

color

a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect

colour

, people who get out of prison and want to try to restart their lives by getting a

college

degree will find it much more difficult to do so in Georgia which has absolutely no need based financial

aid

. All financial

aid there

Accept comma addition

aid, there

is

merit

based (Total Grant

Aid

Awarded). In conclusion, making government financial

aid

for students based solely on

merit

has already been shown to be an unmitigated disaster for the low

income

, disabled, working mothers and people of

color

a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect

colour

. It amounts to educational apartheid and as already stated, it means that government

student

aid

pretty much becomes available only to those who least need it. To

paraphrase

Suggestion

Paraphrase

Catherine Rampell, who is quoting Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher at Edvisors.

com

Suggestion

Com

,

for

Suggestion

For

low

income

students, the six year graduation rate is 45 percent when grants cover one quarter

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(United Kingdom) a region created by territorial division for the purpose of local government

County

5

of

Suggestion

Of

the

college

costs but

Accept comma addition

costs, but

it goes up to 68 percent when grants cover three fourths of the

college

cost; Looking at the statistics for high

income

students though, the graduation rates are about 78 percent either way.

Merit

based financing has

also

been shown to cause lower

college

attendance for non-white students. Education should be viewed as a right and not a privilege,

thereforetherefore

Suggestion

therefore therefore

not only must we no longer consider

merit

-based

student

financial

aid

programs, we must go

further

, enact federal laws which prohibit states from using

merit

based financial

student

aid

programs and force the states that are using

merit

based financial

aid

to immediately discontinue that practice and return the

use

of need based financial

aid

. Works Cited “A Racial Breakdown of Financial

Aid

”, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 23 October, 2011, Accessed 29 January, 2020

www

.

jbhe

Suggestion

Jbhe

.

com

Suggestion

Come

Com

/

2011

/

10

/

a-racial-breakdown-of-financial-

aid

/ Burd, Stephen “Undermining Pell, How Colleges Compete for Wealthy Students and Leave the Low-

Income

Behind.” May, 2013, Accessed 29 January, 2020 s3.

amazonaws

(Greek mythology) one of a nation of women warriors of Scythia (who burned off the right breast in order to use a bow and arrow more effectively)

Amazons

Amazonaws

.

com

Suggestion

Com

/

new-

america

North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776

America

-composer

/

attachments_archive

/

Merit_Aid%20Final.

pdf

Suggestion

Pdf

Bloomberg Opinion “Give Money to

College

Students Who Need It.” 28 February, 2018, Accessed 29 January, 2020

www

.

bloomberg

Suggestion

Bloomberg

.

com

Suggestion

Com

/

opinion

/

articles

Suggestion

article

/

2018-02-28

/

merit

-scholarships-don-t-help-

college

-students-who-need-it-

most

Suggestion

mostly

Elfman, Lois “Report: Diminishing Financial

Aid

for Low-

Income

Students.” Diverse: Issues In Higher Education, 16 February, 2020, Accessed 8 March, 2020 --DELETED LINK-- Ga

rdn

Suggestion

Com

er, Lee “Private-

College

Presidents Urge a Commitment to Need-Based

Aid

.” Chronicle of Higher Education, 00095982, 18 January, 2013, Vol. 59, Issue 19, Accessed 27 February, 2020 Database: Academic Search Complete --DELETED LINK-- Jones, Chelsey “T

he Proble

record in chronological order; make a historical record

Chronicle

m

Wi

Suggestion

Com

th

Merit

Aid

.” 11 December, 2014, edtrust.org

/

the-equity-line

/

the-problem-with-

merit

-

aid

/ Accessed 29 January, 20

20.

Ko

Suggestion

Org

chhar, Rakesh and Cilluffo, Anthony “Key findings on the rise in

income

inequality within America’s racial and ethnic groups.” FACT TANK, 12 July, 2018

www

.pewresearch.org

/

fact-tank

/

2018

/

07

/

12

/

key-findings-on-the-rise-in-

income

-inequal

ity-within-

Suggestion

Pew research

Pewresearch

a

mer

Suggestion

Org

icas-racial-and-ethnic-groups/ Accessed 30 January, 2020 Rampell, Cath

erine. “

North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776

Americas

Freebies for the Rich.” New York Times Magazine, 24 September, 2013,

www

.nytimes.

com

/

2013

/

09

/

29

/

magazine

/

freebies-for-the-rich.html, 29 Accessed Februar

y, 2020

Suggestion

Nytimes

Suggestion

Come

Com

Lederman, Doug. “State’s Slow Steady Embr

ace

Suggestion

Html

of Need-Based

Aid

Total Grant

Aid

.” Inside Higher ED, 5 Nov

ember, 2018

Accept comma addition

Slow, Steady

, 30 Accessed January, 2020

www

.insidehighered.

com

/

sites

/

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server_files

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media

/

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Insidehighered

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