Podcast 1

Low-Income Students and College Education

Summary:

The podcast “Low-Income Students and College Education” by Neal Conan is about that College costs a lot of money and it is impossible for low-income families to afford college nowadays. 1965 they tried to make College affordable for everybody and created some programs. Some schools like Harvard still have programs for poor families. In the interview they talk about how the US should refocus on class and not just on racial issues. Since 1965 the number of low-income students attending college has increased a lot but the number of middle class students attending college has decreased. From the students that are going to college today are 3 percent low-income students and 45 very rich students, so it is more likely to run into a very rich student at colleges than into a poor student.

Why is it worthwhile?

This interview is worthwhile because the guests all know what they are talking about and it is very interesting to see different views from inside. It also gives facts about how many low-income students actually go to college and how many rich students do. It talks about special programs that should help poor families but they also say that it does not really work.

Direct evidence:

“It really is encouraging what a few of these presidents of the university are doing”

“We made a lot of progress at the racial front but the dirty little secret of higher education has been that we have not addressed economic diversities”

“The outlook for low-income students is not good in a short term.”

Guests:

Arthur Levine
*President of the Teachers College at Columbia University

Walter Benn Michaels
*Head of English department at University of Illinois, Chicago

Richard Kahlenberg
*Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation, Washington, D.C.

Greg Forster
*Researcher for the Manhattan Institute 

Link:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1838668

Citation (MLA):

Conan, Neal. "Low-Income Students and College Education." NPR. NPR, 15 Apr. 2004. Web. 9 May 2012. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1838668>.