Discrimination among students based on their financial status is among the most prominent setbacks of universities. This, on one side, affects the student’s attainments that belong to low waged families. While on the other side, it also affects the upward mobility of an education system. Thus, to promote wealth equality in the educational system in the US, this article will describe the American education system. It will also discuss the working principles, their qualities, and the effect of wealth inequality on education.
What is America’s education system based on?
The educational system in the US includes private, public, and home schools. The state government sets educational standards for public schools and monitors them through a board of regents and universities. But, private schools are free to create their curriculum and educational policies. According to the US educational state laws, education is mandatory for all children aged between five and eighteen years. This law is compulsory for public schools, state-certified private schools, and registered home schools. The US schools system is divided into three basic levels, elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. There is also a wide variety of colleges and universities that serve post-secondary education and higher education thought out the country. The list of higher education institutes in America includes wealthy and selective universities, black colleges, for-profit colleges, and many more.
The educational system in the US is based on the federal constitution. These constitutions control all the educational standards over the local, public, and home schools. Thus, several state / federal laws and court decisions define various aspects of America’s decentralized education system. To know more about the laws and constitutions on which America’s education system is based, you can search for the following along with their role in America’s education system.
- Federal Education Legislation/Regulation,
- Federal Statutory and Regulatory Guidance
- The Department of Education’s Home Page
- S House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor
- The Washington Higher Education Secretariat (WHES)
- National Education Date Resources Center (NEDRC)
Does the US have a good education system?
According to the statement of Carnegie Corporation of New York, the US education system has been the best in the world for most of the twentieth century. This statement is a little vague. It explains that the US education system has been good for most of the twentieth century. But it does not say anything about the current status of American institutes in the world. Many organizations rank the best institutes in the world. Among these media outlets and organizations, THE (Times Higher Education) World University Ranking is the most prominent UK magazine. According to their 2022 ranking, out of ten, eight top universities globally are American. The results of the Shanghai Rankings are also quite like THE world university ranking (8 out of 10 tops universities belong to the US).
Similarly, as per CEOWORDLD Best countries for Education Rankings, six out of ten world’s top universities are American. Thus, the world’s most prominent ranking system agrees that the educational system in the US is the best in the world. The government subsidies, educational attainments, and institutional resources make the educational system in the US the world’s best. On the other hand, most US students seek coursework writing services to overcome issues in their coursework assignments.
How does being rich affect education?
The one side of the picture depicts that there is no better system than the educational system in the US. But by flipping the picture, we know that the US education system has many setbacks. These setbacks include extensive diversity, high tuition fees or other expenses, and limited seat availability. Each year, around 268,000 new international students move to US US for higher education. This massive migration of students to the US brings challenges. These challenges include affordability, access, career preparation, and students’ indebtedness. The fee structure, admission requirements, and on-campus educational expenses in the US are too high, which creates a wealth-based hierarchy among students. Thus, the people with wealth can better afford these educational expenses and instantly get admission to US top universities. But students who belong to poor family backgrounds spend years searching for a need-based scholarship or getting qualified for a student loan. In light of these trends, we can say that being rich makes getting an education in the US easier.
Family Wealth and higher education
Family wealth or income is the most important factor affecting the higher education achievements of students in the US. The students who belong to rich families can buy expensive books, have gadgets for smart learning, afford the best tutors, and pay for extra assistance. The rich family’s children can pay more attention to the academic challenges instead of getting disturbed by the financial issues. In simplest words, wealth is a key to increasing a student’s success in an educational setup.
Family wealth is associated with higher educational attainment and has a great effect on upward educational mobility. Children with low family wealth have fewer chances to go to the best educational institutions in the US creates long-term wealth inequality in universities. In the US, the students with low wealth are usually from black or Hispanic families, while white families enjoy a high-wealth status. Thus, this wealth inequality also creates racism and nepotism in the educational system in the US and hurts the learning environment and outcomes throughout the country.
Is the US education system unequal
The educational system in the US is unequal for the rich and poor. According to a study, getting a two-year degree in the US varies greatly depending on students and their family wealth. The chances of students belonging to high wealth families ($223,438) getting a two-year degree are 70 percent, while these chances decrease to 57 percent for the students belonging to middle high wealth families ($45,000-223,437). At the same time, these chances for low-middle wealth families ($2,000- 45,000) are 46 percent and for low-income families ($2,000) are 41 %. The chances of getting a four-year degree in the US educational system further decrease based on the wealth-based quartile among families. Thus, we can say that the US education system is different for students with different financial statuses.
Conclusion
Consequently, the educational system in the US is full of qualities; hence, ranked number one throughout the world. But the fee structure, unequal educational facilities for all students based on their background, and other policies create a wealth-based hierarchy among students. It helps students from rich families to complete their education on time and grasp better working opportunities in the future. As a whole, we can conclude, yes, the educational system in the US favors students from rich families in many ways.