Thursday, March 14, 2013

Research Proposal

Research Blog #4

Elise Fritz
March 1, 2013
Research in the Disciplines: College!


Research Proposal
I. Title:
The Black Hole of College Finances

II. Topic:
I will be exploring how students are being educated about the financial options available to them before college. Also, how the upper class have the resources to help their kids get into the elite schools while the middle and lower class are missing out on the financial aid and support to which they are entitled. This has created a “dog eat dog world” which is driven by competition. This competition brings forth links to privatization  and looking out for your own interests and not caring about anyone else’s. Furthermore, for-profit schools have taken advantage of the poor and their lack of information.

III. Research Question:
How has the idea of privatization increased the gap between the upper class who have the resources to get financial advice and the lower class who do not by fostering the competition of admission into college and self-interest? How has the vast difference in demographics between these students give the advantage to the upper class and leave the less fortunate in the dark about financial options?

IV. Theoretical Frame:
Although I do not have a specific theory in mind to analyze this topic I am trying to unearth something very specific. I am still revolving around the central idea of the ways that students are being educated about their options to pay for college. However, there is another sub-topic that is interwoven and constructs an interesting viewpoint. The children of the elite have various resources available to them that the less-fortunate don’t and this leaves an informational gap between these students which can be detrimental to their financial futures.

V. Research Plan and Additional Questions:
The research plan that I am instituting for these questions is merely finding examples of how students have failed to find information that could have helped them with their finances and college loans. I am also researching the various programs and assistance that is available for students and what they should be taking advantage of. Many students do not know about these options and this is where they fall short when preparing for college.
Concentrating on case studies, I have two specific examples of horrific stories about students who lost out on substantial financial benefits because they didn’t know they were available for them. I will use these examples of neglect to further argue this problem and how we can fix this.

VI. Bibliography
Price, Derek V. Borrowing Inequality: Race, Class, and Student Loans. Boulder, CO:L. Reinner, 2004. Print.
Jason Deparle; Kitty Bennett Contributed. “For Poor, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 23. Dec. 2012. Web. 26 Feb.2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/education>.
Supiano, Beckie. “Straight Answers on Paying for College: Still Too Little, Too Late”. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 8 Feb. 2013: A12-13. Print.
Herndon, M. Craig. “Improving Consumer Information For Higher Education Planning.” New Directions For Institutional Research 2012.153 (n.d.): 63. EBSCO: Academic Search Premier (EBSCO EIT) (XML). Web. 15 Mar. 2013.
Simmons, Omari Scott. “Lost in Transition: The Implications of Social Capital For Higher Education Access”. Notre Dame Law Review 87.1 (n.d.):205-252. Thomson Scientific: ISI Web of Knowledge- Web of Science. Web. 15 Mar. 2013.

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