Factors explaining the Challenges in the College Education by Low-Income Students

Getting access to the college is not a big problem for the low-income students. For example, Tough explains that Vanessa managed to realize her dream of studying at the University of Texas when she obtained the admission letter. The realization of her vision means that accessing the college education is not a big deal, but only the survival and experience after joining the institutions and graduating is where the issue exists. It is mentioned that “Five months later, Vanessa’s parents dropped her off at her dorm in Austin. She was nervous, a little intimidated by the size of the place, but she was also confident that she was finally where she was meant to be. People had warned her that U.T. was hard” (Tough 1). Besides, the first factor involves the parental income. The low-income students get it difficult to complete their college studies and graduate because they do not receive sufficient funds to support their education. As such, they encounter several challenges after joining the situations, which impact their school lives and performance in the class. After joining the precious colleges or universities, such as the University of Texas, completing the education is comparatively unlikely because money plays an important role in their learning programs. For instance, the lack of adequate funds means that the low-income students cannot obtain the relevant resources for their education including the purchasing the textbooks, support for faculty development, and other items required for their studies.

The absences of the materials required for their studies frustrate these students, thereby attaining low grades and feel the difficulty in finishing their college education and graduate.
The second factor discussed by Tough is the education level of the parents. The parents’ education level also plays an important role in influencing the challenges faced by the low-income students in completing their college education. The low-income students whose parents did not either go to beyond high school or did not attend school at all are most likely to drop out of college or perform poorly in the class (Tough 2). Tough argues that the level of education also determines the earning level of the parents, which further determine the available cash for supporting the children in the studies. Not well-educated parents do not offer the required encouragement and inspirations for their students and, therefore, the students may not see the need of obtaining the degree or performing well in class. It is mentioned that “An internal U.T. report published in 2012 showed that only 39 percent of first-generation students (meaning students whose parents weren’t college graduates) graduated in four years, compared with 60 percent whose parents both graduated from college” (Tough 3). The third factor involves the perception of the low-income students on whether they belong to their respective situations. They have doubts, fears, and misconceptions about their presence in the institutions. The confusion and fear make them get lower grades as compared to the students from the rich families as they perceive that they cannot attain higher grades and manage to cope up with the college life, especially for the selective institutions like the University of Texas.
Intervention to address the Problem
One method of solving the problem in the college education and improving the performance and grades of the low-income students to allow them to graduate is through the use of the TIP strategy. Tough explains that the intervention involves a professor giving two hours every week of extra guidelines (Tough 6). The process entails assigning the students the advisers who maintain a close contact and intervene in the case of trouble or when a student fails to understand a concept being taught. The strategy was found to be effective in improving the students’ performance and motivating them in their studies. As a result, it can inspire them to remain at school and get better grades that can allow them to obtain their degrees. Accordingly, one professor confirmed that “When I started giving them the tests, they got the same grades as the larger section” (Tough 6).

Works Cited
Tough, Paul. “Who gets to graduate.” The New York Times (2014).