Equal Access to Higher Education Opportunities

By: Tony Prather

Hear me out…

Maybe the real problem isn’t student loan debt, after all… maybe it’s the ingrained oppressive patriarchy demonstrated through financial access to education. For decades, arguably even centuries, education has been extended to those of wealth and privilege, deliberately ensuring stability in a classist system for the elite. Keeping the wealthy and powerful where they are for generations and limiting the potential for others to climb the ladder. The concept being, “qualifiable education is for those who can afford it.”

Government subsidized student loans attempted to close that gap affording the ability for those who couldn’t pay outright, to better themselves and their station in life, with the faith that once they were qualified and educated, their career would allow them the financial stability to pay back what was borrowed.

Trouble arises with the consistent and continual rise in tuition costs, forcing borrowers to take obscene amounts of money that will ensure substantial debt that an entry level position just cannot cover. Some might argue that this is a stealthy attempt by University systems to maintain the aforementioned oppression.

I see a good number of you out there talking about how taking the loan was “their choice”, and thus their responsibility to repay… I don’t totally disagree, as this was the bargain made when the funds were distributed. A man’s word is his bond, after all… but I submit to you that if the deck wasn’t stacked, then far fewer people would make that “choice”.

Is it really a choice when a person has a family, are making barely enough to get by, and are underqualified for positions that could financially provide for their family? I say that in a capitalist system, where everyone is expected to do for themselves, there is no choice. We do what we need to do to survive and make a better life for ourselves and our family.

Do I think that the education bills of student borrowers should be passed on to John Q. Taxpayer? I don’t know, but it seems to me that if we, as a society, had never allowed a post-secondary education to become so unattainable to so many, the issues we face today might not have been quite the emergency that some of you are seeing this as. Responsibility for the initial problem has to lie somewhere.

I am speaking as someone who benefitted from the generous benevolence of a dear mentor and personal friend. I did take some loans out along the way, but if it had not been for the personal interest taken on me and the financial endowment that I was graciously provided by this one particular individual, then I wouldn’t have been able to afford to complete either one of my degrees… loans or no loans. Not everyone, few in fact, have such a valuable resource at their disposal.

I share this because I truly believe that if we are to be a capitalist society where everyone receives the fruits of their labor, then the gatekeeping has got to end. Affordable education should be available for all interested in the opportunity. Stop shaming people for trying to make a better life for themselves. The student loan debt is so high because we have allowed oppressive tactics to rank supreme.

So, John Q. Taxpayer might have to fork over a little extra money now. Consider it an investment in fixing a greedy, broken system that they should have spoken out against long ago.

I’ll stop short of offering my own theoretical perspective for a comprehensive solution because I’m certain it wouldn’t be well received. But, please remember, just because a person is spending money on tuition, they are not “purchasing a degree”. They are purchasing the right to pursue a degree. The hard work still lays ahead in the classroom. Many of us have spent countless, sleepless nights studying and preparing for this piece of paper that we greatly value. So the attacks on those of us who received a post-secondary education are particularly hurtful. Yes, we made a choice. But we also committed to persevere and see ourselves through to a better opportunity, financial burdens notwithstanding.

Final thought, if a person denies their privilege, they need only re-evaluate their own political ideologies and identify the roots behind them. About 10 years ago, I was totally against the idea of a free post-secondary education. But, I discovered the root cause behind this stance, was my own fear that if everyone had access, it might make “me” less special… I literally said that out loud at one point… and there it is. The selfish underbelly behind my thought processes. Identifying this makes the whole stance morally and ethically reprehensible. Thus, rendering it without legitimacy or relevance. Today, I feel that a free trade, capitalist system requires equal access to higher education for those who seek to improve themselves. Allowing affordable access to all, plays little role in how effective one can be. It merely gives everyone equal opportunity to excel and compete.