The Meaning of Money

Abstract

A sociocultural understanding of affordability is essential to understanding the college cost deliberations of low-income African American and Latino students and their families. Habitus shapes and informs college affordability decisions for students and their families. Using interviews with 63 college counselors in urban secondary schools, low-income underrepresented students’ assessments of affordability were framed by a highly individualized assessment of need, an internalized calculation of costs versus benefits, and an acute awareness of the competing demands resulting from financial scarcity. The perceptual differences concerning college affordability are an unintended consequence of differential tastes between middle-income counselors and low-income families.

Latinx Student Assets, College Readiness, and Access: Are We Making Progress?

“…Thus, in our model, college socialization is measured by whether or not students have met with high school counselors regarding college admission, as well as participating in college preparatory programs that are designed to inform and assist student access and choice. Research has found that college counselors influence the college trajectories of Latinx students, as they are a primary source of college admissions and financial aid information [25][26][27][28]. Meeting with college counselors can have positive effects like increasing the number of applications that Latinx students submit [27].…”

“…Meeting with college counselors can have positive effects like increasing the number of applications that Latinx students submit [27]. However, research has also found that many low-income Latinx students attend high schools that lack counselor resources or have high student to counselor ratios, at times exceeding 1000 students to 1 counselor [26,29]. High school counselors have been found to have lower expectations of low-income Latinx students, which results in biased information relayed to the student about their college prospects [26].…”

“…However, research has also found that many low-income Latinx students attend high schools that lack counselor resources or have high student to counselor ratios, at times exceeding 1000 students to 1 counselor [26,29]. High school counselors have been found to have lower expectations of low-income Latinx students, which results in biased information relayed to the student about their college prospects [26]. This can manifest through counselors steering Latinx students toward community colleges or less selective institutions [26].…”

“…High school counselors have been found to have lower expectations of low-income Latinx students, which results in biased information relayed to the student about their college prospects [26]. This can manifest through counselors steering Latinx students toward community colleges or less selective institutions [26].…”

“…Financial/material resources are another asset bundle that refers to the amount of financial resources students acquire to attend higher education such as having received financial aid in the form of Pell grants and parental financial support for education. Research has demonstrated that low-income Latinx students do not have adequate access to the financial aid information necessary to understand how to pay for college [26,28,29]. The high prices of colleges and universities are likely to give low-income students and their families "sticker shock" as the stated cost of colleges often exceeds the annual income of low-income families [34].…”