A recent increase in the national dialogue regarding socioeconomic class offers common themes on the experiences of college students from traditionally underrepresented socioeconomic backgrounds, but does not always reflect the individual complexities expressed by students interviewed by The Dartmouth.
Sociology professor Janice McCabe, whose work focuses on educational inequalities, said that socioeconomic class affects students even before they get to college, as it often influences to which type of colleges they apply, gain entrance and ultimately can attend.
“There’s more of a perception that a public university is for everyone, whereas there is a perception that more elite colleges have more socioeconomically advanced students,” McCabe said. “That leads to a perception among students of more disadvantaged backgrounds that there isn’t a place for them.”
Cecilia Torres ’18 credited her smooth transition to Dartmouth to various on-campus resources including Dartmouth Quest Scholars and First-Year Student Enrichment Program. Torres, a QuestBridge scholar and the social chair for DQS, said that without these organizations she would not have “adapted to Dartmouth as easily.”
DQS is the campus extension of QuestBridge, an organization that helps high-achieving, low-income students as they apply to college.
Cesar Rufino ’18, another QuestBridge Scholar, said that every individual from an underrepresented socioeconomic background at a higher education institution has a unique situation and story.
“‘Underrepresented’ and ‘underprivileged’ serve as an umbrella term,” Rufino said. “Not everyone who falls under this category necessarily goes through the same struggles.”
The often-messy financial aid process can exacerbate a student’s college application efforts, McCabe said, because students who do not know what type of aid package they will receive may not know to which institutions they can apply.
Socioeconomic status continues to affect student experiences once individuals matriculate, she added.
“More disadvantaged students often feel invisible on campuses regardless of whether you are talking about more elite campuses or large research universities,” McCabe said.
McCabe does research on student friendship networks and how they affect student experience on college campuses. She has found that often class is hidden, even among friends, and that can be a barrier for low-income students. Both Torres and Rufino said that they experienced a culture shock when classes first began in the fall term.
Torres said that she attended a public high school in Dallas, Texas, prior to attending Dartmouth. At her high school, the majority of people in the community identified as members of the lower-middle class.
“Talking about socioeconomic issues or status was common because we all knew that we came from similar backgrounds, so it was easy to talk about it,” Torres said.
Both Torres and Rufino said that they eagerly share their stories with the Dartmouth community because they want to inspire conversation that promotes the diversity in socioeconomic experiences on campus.
Still, McCabe noted that “there are identity pressures to fit in,” which could lead to “ill ease rather than social belonging.”
A crucial element of this issue is that class can often be a difficult subject to discuss, she said.
“Part of it is a stigma that if you are disadvantaged, there is something wrong with you,” McCabe said.
McCabe said that more open discussion on class background and inequality could help students realize the range of experiences of their peers. She noted the importance of educating oneself about structural disadvantages and patterns of inequality through academic courses or other means.
Rufino said that he chose to participate in the Dartmouth Class Confessions project, a campaign that aims to increase visibility of students from lower socioeconomic classes, because he wanted to address and debunk a misconception that low-income equates with underprivileged. He noted that although he attended a rigorous public high school and felt prepared for college, all students share the difficulty of transitioning to college life.
Both Rufino and Torres said that they plan on fully embracing a liberal arts education, as well as College programs like foreign study programs, by tapping into resources for funding.
DQS co-director Emily Chan ’16 said that the biggest challenge she sees presented to lower-income and first-year students is not financial assistance, but rather the lack of a strong professional network.
“A lot students have access to professional networks through family connections, but most students who are first-years or of lower income do not have this option,” she said.
Chan added that the lack of a strong network disadvantages these students when they are seeking internships or employment, and that DQS is establishing a database of alumni to alleviate this concern.
McCabe said practical items such as affording study abroad programs, fees for clubs and organizations, going out to meals and going on trips with friends present complications to low-income students. She noted that the College is better equipped to help students with some of these issues, like studying abroad, than they are with others, like meals with friends.
The College offers need-based financial aid that can cover all expenses defined as “educational costs,” director of financial aid Virginia Hazen said. These include tuition, room and board, textbook costs, off-campus study program costs and miscellaneous expenses, which cover necessities like toothpaste and shampoo, she said. Hazen also noted several trends that can create difficulties for students.
Hazen said that students from rural areas frequently express frustration over finding off-term work that pays the amount of money they are expected to pay the College. She noted that this pattern often causes students to take out unexpected loans.
Another long-term trend, she said, is that students opt to take out loans rather than work 10 to 12 hours a week.
The financial aid office needs to be equitable in the way they award money, Hazen said. If a student is taking art classes with extra equipment necessary or science classes with a lab fee, the office can only give a loan for it, potentially limiting students’ academic options, she said.
Hazen said she was concerned with student outreach as with the office’s current staff size they are not able to meet with each incoming student receiving financial aid at the start of their time at the College. Receiving immediate information about how financial aid works at Dartmouth “always seemed to me to get people off on the right foot here,” she said.
“It is hard to tap into the system,” Hazen said. “People need to reach out to us too. We’re happy to do presentations, but we don’t want to go and then have nobody show up.”
Christine Brongniart, director of strategic partnerships and external relations at the Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America, said that LEDA tries to offload some of the burden from financial aid by setting up networks to help low-income students navigate their college experience and operating as a source of support and resource. Fourteen LEDA scholars have attended the College, with five currently enrolled, Brongniart said.
LEDA is a national non-profit that works to develop the skills of high-achieving public high school students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. The group mostly focuses on helping low-income, high-achieving students gain access to competitive institutions of higher education.
Brongniart said themes in feedback from past students currently attending college include not finding strong support systems and delays in financial aid.
“The system isn’t set up to support students as much as they may need as far as extra stability from financial aid officers and the ability to actually get support in a timely way,” Brongniart said.
She noted that the way administrative systems are set up creates a “bottleneck effect,” because there are not enough staff members to meet students’ needs.
Brongniart said she encourages students to take out micro-grants — small sums of money — for emergencies or for lab and course work fees.
Brongniart said that a peer-mentoring network for incoming students would help.
“Older classmen who have navigated the process for four years can help incoming students,” she said. “They can help support them, answer questions, have a human relationship.”
Chan said that DQS currently has a peer mentoring program where younger students are paired with older scholars. The program is designed to foster strong relationships among the mentee and mentor pairs in order to provide younger scholars with assistance to adapting to life at Dartmouth.
LEDA helps students deal with “cultural insensitivity” that students might feel from the university, administrators, financial aid officers and other students, she noted.
Torres said she attributes the lack of past conversation to people’s fear of discussing the issue in an insensitive manner. Rufino echoed Torres’ sentiments, adding that conversations about class should focus on personal experiences as opposed to hard numbers.
“Talking about it around campus does not mean you go around saying my family makes $120,000 a year or $30,000 a year, it’s sharing your background and that’s your own story,” Rufino said.
Torres said that she does not view her economic status as a barrier to her educational experiences at Dartmouth.
“ I can only speak for myself, but I don’t feel like I am limited or have any less opportunities than anyone here,” Torres said.