Research Blog 3: How Might Privatization Connect To My Topic?

Much like my Analytic Essay, I intend to explore stress and mental health among first-year college students. This strongly relates to privatization through various mechanisms. The most notable connection between privatization and stress lies in the financial implications of privatization. Due to a lack of public funding for students to attend college, individuals are perpetually forced to seek out loans from private lenders often charging exorbitant interest rates. This instills in the student a sense of financial insecurity, and by extension stress and anxiety related to the ability to pay back their student loans.

Also examined in my Analytic Essay is the correlation between privatization and social stratification in modern day higher education institutions. As the price of college increases, higher education caters more and more to the wealthy elite who do not struggle with financial insecurities or rely on student loans. Students of these families also attend school for very different reasons than their financially disadvantaged counterparts. Armstrong and Hamilton cite examples of various pathways college students take such as the party, professional, and mobility pathways (A&H 15). Each pathway brings with it differing academic and social goals and priorities. This social stratification has infiltrated the education system so strongly that specific academic programs have been developed to exemplify the needs and purposes of students on the party pathway, yet fail to account for students on the professional and mobility pathways. Author's Armstrong and Hamilton also reference Steven Brint's term "Ivy Islands" to describe the inaccessabilty of high tier college institutions to the majority of Americans (A&H 4). Skyrocketing loan prices along with a changing demographic at these schools inhibits many students from reaching their full potential at one of these schools, resulting in failed expectations of incoming freshman.

Prior to the rise of privatization, college was an opportunity for a young American to achieve his or her American Dream and further their future. College was not necessary to create a successful future, yet a student would benefit immensely from a college degree and was able to put themselves through college entirely without loans and nothing more than a part-time job. Yet in today's time, recent high school graduates are all but required to attend college. Jobs are made accessible to only those with a college degree, often times only those with several, while individuals with nothing but a high school diploma are left working minimum wage positions. Because of the priority of a college degree, the study of the implications of privatization are of paramount importance as an increasing majority of young Americans are forced to deal with it's implications.