Your Path to a Four-Year College: A Checklist
Results Explained:
How being below the poverty line hurts your chances:
Around 67% of both black and Hispanic children fall into a low-income household compared to 25% of white children. Not knowing where your next meal is coming from weighs heavily on a child’s ability to perform in school. Naturally, this negatively trickles-down into their chances at a four-year college.
How parents lacking college education hurts your chances:
While 42% of parents of white children have attained at least a Bachelor’s degree, that number drops to 20% when it comes to the parents of black children. Lower parent educational levels typically lead to lower wealth, which in turn ends in the “perfect storm” of hindering minority opportunities. Lower educated parents also do not expect their children to attain higher education at the same levels as their white counterparts.
How race hurts your chances:
Through the lens of race, we learn that ~45% of black children and ~35% of Hispanic children never enroll in college. In contrast, only ~78% of white children are currently enrolled and/or have completed their college education. This exposes the systematic failure against children of minority races.
How not graduating on time hurts your chances:
As children roll into high school, black students are three times more likely than their white counterparts. The more students are held back, the higher their drop out rates become, which drastically hurts their chances of college admissions.
How standardized tests hurt your chances:
It is evident that with a lack of wealth comes a lack of access to resources, like tutors, that aid in improving one's standardized test scores. Such a correlation is reflected in white students consistently outscoring black students in math and reading. Ultimately, standardized scores are directly proportional to the quantity and quality of college admissions.
How school suspensions hurt your chances:
Even though black students only make up 16% of students enrolled in primary school, they account for 42% of students receiving school suspensions and 34% of students who are expelled. These rates heavily hinder a students’ educational progress, dwindling their chances of college admittance.
How criminal records hurt your chances:
While the lingering weight of a criminal record will act as a major obstacle in college admissions, what must be noted is that black male juveniles experience residential custody at almost eight times the rate of white male juveniles. Similarly, Native Americans and Hispanic juveniles face doubled rates of residential custody compared to white males.