Paying the Price: College Costs, Financial Aid, and the Betrayal of the American Dream

Goldrick-Rab, Sara·2016·University of Chicago Press eBooks

DOI 10.7208/chicago/9780226404486.001.0001

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“The demographic shift towards greater representation of low-income students itself reflects a general belief that a college degree is an effective means to securing better employment opportunities (Bettinger et al., 2009; Goldrick-Rab, 2016).”
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“Goldrick-Rab suggested that low-income college students often feel obligated to share their financial loan money with their families to ensure the family’s survival (Goldrick-Rab, 2016).”
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Introduction
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“Many studies and campus procedures use some indicator of income to reflect social class; common proxies include Pell grant eligibility or expected family contribution (EFC) to college (e.g., Goldrick-Rab, 2016; Jack, 2019; Nguyen & Herron, 2021).”
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“Although most students in our sample are not parents, many worked for pay, which is increasingly considered necessary (Goldrick-Rab, 2016; Mathuews, 2018; Perna & Odle, 2020).”
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“Yet, college completion rates are relatively low for students from lower income families because financial and material hardship is a key barrier to success (Goldrick-Rab, 2016; Ziol-Guest & Lee, 2016).”
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Reyes, D. V., Quesada, M., & Garcia-Galvez, K. (2025) · Socius Sociological Research for a Dynamic World · doi:10.1177/23780231251371747
“Others have written about the subjective effects of student loan borrowing and repayment (Cottom 2017; Goldrick-Rab 2016; Zaloom 2018), the effects debt burdens have on relationships (Strivers and Berman 2020), and the psychological distress debt burdens cause (Bridges and Disney 2010; Cooke et al.…”
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“It encompasses policies and practices such as equal opportunity admissions, tuition waiv-ers, scholarships, and reduced costs for books and supplies (Baum & Ma, 2010; Goldrick-Rab, 2016).”
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“Research shows that traditionally underrepresented students may struggle in college for a variety of reasons that include dif ﬁ culties adjusting to college (Gibbons et al., 2019), ﬁ nances (Goldrick-Rab, 2016), and lacking a sense of belonging (Strayhorn, 2018).”
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Authors: Goldrick-Rab, S.
Venue: University of Chicago Press eBooks
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2016
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226404486.001.0001
OpenAlex: W4255647282
Cited by: 379
References: 0
Citations by year: 2026: 32 · 2025: 46 · 2024: 37 · 2023: 40 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 50 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 49 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 5
Type: book
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: University of Chicago Press eBooks (publishedVersion)

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Paying the Price: College Costs, Financial Aid, and the Betrayal of the American Dream

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