Some Advice for Low-Income College Students, Specifically at SFSU
Low-income students have their fair list of troubles before any type of college education. They are at a loss of privilege and resources because of their families’ lack of financial mobility. I know personally that being low income is sometimes rough. I have been taught that college is a strategy of attaining equal opportunity and that everyone has an equal chance of completing it. But, after research, I now know it is harder for some groups and low-income students are one of them. I performed a small study involving low-income students at San Francisco State University to learn about their challenges and struggles and then give them solutions and advice. Low-income, in this case, means students from households that make less than $48,000 a year.
After reading some online sources I learned about many challenges that low-income students face. Their first issue is money. Although low-income students receive money through financial aid services, this is still often not enough money for their needs to be met. Students, of course, need extra money for necessities outside of schooling too, such as for their housing, food, clothing, and transportation. The College Board estimated that the typical living costs for college students from 2016 to 2017 ranged from 11,800 dollars on a low budget to 17,620 dollars on a moderate budget. Costs like this can lead many low-income students to work while they are in college. If students are working, they obviously have less time to dedicate to their studies. According to a study by Georgetown University Center and the Workforce, students of any yearly income are more likely to have worse grades if they are also working while in school. The study stated that 60 percent of low-income students who work more than 15 hours a week earn on average grades of Cs or lower. The study also found that only 22 percent of low-income students who work during school graduate in six years or less. The idea that students can work through college is not very believable to me after reading this.
I have personally had some rough experiences with school and work. I work as a caterer part-time to pay for school expenses. It takes time away from my day and sometimes I have to work very long shifts that go late into the night which makes getting up for class early difficult. Although I don’t work full time, my job can still make it harder for me to focus on school.
Students of low income also face many more barriers concerning their background and mental health. These students are more likely to arise out of high schools in higher poverty-stricken areas that don’t receive as much local, state, or national funding. According to a report by the U.S. Department of Education in 2011, more than 40 percent of low-income schools in the U.S. don’t get enough state or local funds. This lack of funds sometimes means a lack of preparation for college-level work and the college atmosphere from resources such as more ap classes or college counseling putting many low-income students behind when they get into college. This ill preparation can not only make college more difficult for these students but also gives many low-income students the feeling of being outcasts. Imagine what it is like to feel lost around many other students who seem to know what they are doing. Having this feeling of not belonging can play a huge part in why some students decide not to stay in college.
From the interviews that I conducted of low-income students at SFSU, I received responses that reflected what I found from online sources. Two interviewees, in particular, exemplified this information. The first interviewee expressed feelings of jadedness from his college experience. He described college as being more difficult than he thought and it also didn’t feel like it was something that was worth it to him so far. He doesn’t work at the moment but his main challenges so far seemed to be his lack of preparation. He described how he didn’t feel ready for the workload of college and how it made him feel exhausted. He also mentioned having to drop a class this semester because his workload was too intense. The next interviewee had some similar and different challenges. He has to work to pay his own rent while he goes to school and he has to work at least four days a week. He described this as being a big issue sometimes because of his intense degree choice, engineering. He sometimes has trouble finding the time to focus on his studies. He also talked about the exhaustion his classes were giving him. He stated that he felt debilitated and some of his classes even made him sad to attend because of their difficulty. His classmates seemed to be thriving in class much better than him which made him feel left out and less intelligent. I told him about tutoring resources to help him and he seemed uninformed about these opportunities for himself. Other feelings he was receiving from college were heightened anxiety and discouragement. These two interviews seemed to show signs of demoralization in low-income students.
My other interviews’ problems tended to be having less time to work on school because of work, always being short on money, not feeling the best prepared for college-level work, and having difficulty in some of their classes.
After learning about the challenges of low-income students, I found some possible solutions to their issues at SFSU. One of which is support. There are already some helpful programs at SFSU that do this, such as, Metro College Success Program, Educational Opportunity Program, and Student Support Services. Programs like these provide support in forms of advising, counseling, scholarships, and tutoring. Metro College Success program gives students personalized college support in class and with tutoring and advising. Students in Metro are placed in specific metro classes and in a general education course each semester where they are grouped with the same students. In the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), underserved students are given outreach, admissions, academic, and financial support. They also receive ongoing tutoring, advising, and workshops while they are in school. Student Support Services (SSS) is a part of EOP and it strives to increase retention and graduation rates of their students by providing tutoring, advising workshops, and priority registration. There are also other tutoring programs such as Campus Academic Resource Center (CARP) and Learning Assistance Center (LAC) at SFSU which can help with a variety of subjects and are available to anyone on campus. If these students are ever feeling like they need emotional help they can receive counseling from psychological services on campus. Information about this can be found on the psychological services link on the SFSU website.
Money was also a problem for these low-income students. Many scholarships are available to SFSU students that tailor to specific groups of students and specific majors and they can be accessed on the SFSU website on the financial aid link. There are also good ways to save money as a student. You can save money on textbooks by renting them or buying used ones on sites such as Chegg.com and slugbooks.com. I would also recommend not eating out and utilizing your meal plan if you have one. If you have dietary restrictions, I recommend grocery shopping. I always find cheap food at Trader Joe’s next to the SFSU campus. When you are looking to find a new outfit, try shopping at thrift stores.
