Summary of “The Implicit Punishment of Daring to Go to College When Poor”

In a March 28, 2019, New York Times op-ed titled “The Implicit Punishment of Daring to Go to College When Poor,” , Enoch Jemmott describes the inequities faced by poor students navigating the college admissions process. Jemmott grew up in a neighborhood where most students, including himself, come from low-income families and where there is a lack of college counseling in schools. Jemmott writes to expose the flaws in the college admissions process and advocate for a system that aids those in poverty.

Jemmott delves into his personal experiences and those of his peers to emphasize the challenges poor students encounter when applying to college. For example, most of the students at his high school have had to write their college essays and fill out the dreaded Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on their own, without the help of college counselors. To expand on this, he notes that many public schools in the US do not employ any college counselors. This disadvantages students because important decisions such as choosing a college and even attending college are added to the responsibilities of school counselors, who are already stretched thin looking after students' mental health. Jemmott uses these examples to underscore the extent to which poor students lack access to the same economic and academic resources as more affluent students.

Jemmott recognizes that when students are poor, they are forced to work harder to achieve success. While discussing his work as a peer counselor, he describes the predatory financial offers students would have to decode and reject, one of the many extra hurdles those in poverty have to overcome. He exemplifies the real-world implication of these disadvantages with the statistic that “nine percent of people from the lowest income quartile receive a bachelor’s degree by the age of 24, compared to 77 percent for the top income quartile” (par. 15). Here, Jemmott shows that the systemic lack of support that makes it more difficult for low-income students to gain admission to college continues all the way to graduation. He calls for the secondary education system to be restructured in a way that promotes the success of students from low-income families.