Higher education refers to the post-high school studies that occurs, especially at a college or university and it should be provided on a non-discriminative basis. Students from all social classes and races should have a right of access to higher education. In other words, higher education should be equally accessible to all, based on the capacity available as well as qualifications of the eligible students. As Altbach, Patricia and Robert (97) posit, higher education in some American colleges and universities has been inaccessible to some members of the society since resources and opportunities available are being directed mainly to the rich section of the population. For instance, a section of the leading institutions of learning has been offering admissions to wealthy students on the basis of legacy preferences (Seyler 446). Schools have been using such preferences in order to get donations from the alumni team. This kind of theory is unfounded as universities such as Caltech and University of Georgia have massive alumni donations despite the fact that they do not consider legacy preferences while admitting students.
The graduating high school students should know that although they have a right of access to higher education, there are practices eminent in various institutions of higher learning that block students from pursuing tertiary education. Notably, race and socioeconomic status of the applicants influence the admission processes greatly in these institutions. In the Kahlenberg’s analysis, white students who come from wealthy backgrounds and have highly educated parents tend to be favored in the selection process as compared to poor black students whose parents are high school dropouts (Seyler 447). Preferring the advantaged students to the disadvantaged ones is quite opposite of what would be expected in an equal and just society. Despite these bizarre incidences in the selection processes, some colleges and universities have initiated financial aid policies in favor of the bright students who come from low-income families. These policies have been seen to increase the graduating number of low-income students. As such, students from poor backgrounds should take advantage and apply for these opportunities. In essence, the stakeholders of the American higher education need to ensure that higher education does not become separate and unequal even as more students join colleges and universities every year.
Works cited
Altbach, Philip G., Patricia J. Gumport, and Robert O. Berdahl, eds. American higher education in the twenty-first century: Social, political, and economic challenges. JHU Press, 2011.
Seyler, Dorothy U. Read Reason Write. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2012. Print.
