And like poor kids, working-class kids may be less likely to have the kind of school
records that make them eligible for admission at selective schools. In the professional
elite, learning disabilities typically lead to intensive tutoring and private school; in
overcrowded public schools, similar kids may be treated as just average if they are well
behaved, or downright disruptive if they disinvest in school. Many working-class parents
can’t help with homework, because their work schedules take them away from home in
the evenings. They may not know the difference between college-prep and non-college-
prep courses; they may not know much of anything about college entrance exams either.
Working-class college students who do go to college typically go to schools close to home
with modest reputations. Though attending those schools may cost less than a selective
school that is farther away (studying close to home allows students to save on
transportation and living expenses),^106 the return on investment is not clear cut. Wage
inequality has increased among college graduates. Today, a top-earning male college
graduate earns 90% more than a low-earning one; in 1979, that figure was 60% for
women and 70% for men. One reason for the decreased returns to some with college
degrees is that an increasing number of male college grads end up in low- or medium-
skilled jobs. And a significant proportion of both male (19.4%) and female (14.0%)
college grads earn less than does the average high-school graduate.^107
And then there’s the debt. “I still value education,” wrote Diana Johnson,* “although it
has gotten me nowhere, and in much debt.” Average college debt among graduating
seniors who had taken out student loans more than doubled between 1986 and 2008,^108
and increased 56% in the decade before 2014.^109 In the 30 years since 1980, “the
inflation-adjusted cost of college tuition and fees rose as much or more than the returns to
a college education.”^110 Taking on this amount of debt is a risky business for a kid from a
working-class family. Students who don’t complete their degrees may end up worse off
than if they’d never started: with a lot of debt, and no extra earning power. In 2009,
student loans were siphoning off 35% of college dropouts’ annual income.^111
Another reason many working-class kids don’t go to college is that they don’t want to be
“pencil pushers.”^112 “A great many people in agriculture, from the person driving the
tractor or loading feed at the co-op all the way to allied industry executives, honestly take
pride in the fact they are feeding the world. Don’t laugh at this,” wrote Cathy Bandyk.*
Oil workers are proud they keep the economy going.^113 Others want to work with their
hands or believe that being a firefighter adds greater value to the community than
designing ever-more-attention-grabbing Google ads.
- Why Doesn’t the Working Class Get with It and Go to College?