The Forgotten Class: How Governmental Financial Aid Programs are Leaving the Middle-Class Behind — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

The Forgotten Class: How Governmental Financial Aid Programs are Leaving the Middle-Class Behind

Name: Kendall Bacon
Major: Marketing and Management
Hometown: Genoa, IL
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Senior thesis

Abstract

For years, a college education has been seen as the key to a middle-class life in America; an opportunity reserved for students from middle and upper-class families. For the most part, that societal mindset rang true. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) shows that since recording began in 1975, the percentage of high school graduates enrolling in colleges from upper-class families and middle-class families exceeded the percentage of students enrolling from lower-class families. This trend remained consistent until 2015 when, for the first time, the percentage of students from lower-class families enrolling in college exceeded the percentage of middle-class families.

The “elite” sticker price of U.S. Colleges is causing sticker shock for many middle-class families and colleges are implementing tuition resets to make this a more realistic value. While the cost of attendance is equal for all students across the board, the net price is where discrepancies between classes become more noticeable. For lower-class families, a majority of the net price is covered by federal grants and scholarships that do not need to be repaid. Middle-class families, however, tend to fall right above the income eligibility requirements for these grants. While most students from middle-class families will qualify for federal loans, they still need to be repaid and a majority are required to take out additional private loans as well.

Using influence from international industry leaders such as Canada, Japan, and South Korea, a new financial aid model is proposed that aims to satisfy both equality and equity by giving more financial aid to middle-class families without taking away from lower-class families. The proposed model focused on three different sectors; 1) K-12 resource enhancement, 2) incentivized early savings plans, and 3) a redefined repayment option for student loans. The purpose of this model is to make a college education less risky for middle class families with the hopes of bringing middle-class students back to the college market.