I weep for joy over the SCOTUS decision on affirmative action last week. I do this because many people from this point forward will not suffer as their predecessors.
Let’s start with this: 40% of students who start college do not graduate in eight years. When you look at Black students, that dropout rate jumps to 54%. Millions of student loan borrowers don’t have a diploma to show for their debt.
Just so you know, every college scores the students applying to attend. SAT/ACT scores, GPA, number/type of AP classes, extracurricular activities, etc. This derives a number to rank the prospective students. The score effectively reflects your knowledge base, the ability to learn and reason, most importantly the self-discipline in order to graduate.
The college also has a statistically derived “cut-off” number for each of their majors. So students who have a score at or above that number have a 90% chance (or whatever percentage the college cares about) of graduating. That number is probably derived from all of the past accepted student’s applications and if they completed their degrees.
If the school “bends the rules” through affirmative action, this means minority students are given preference and those with lower scores are accepted. Minority students with scores below that cut-off number means they have a higher chance of quitting before they obtain their degree because they do not have the academic foundation needed to get their degree.
Here’s where the real tragedy gets rolling. If college was too hard and you dropped out, you do not have that degree and a path to a higher income. A college degree commands a 10% higher salary over those who lack a degree. You do, however, have thousands of dollars of student loan debt, that you will most likely never achieve the income stream necessary to pay it off.
That unbankruptable debt will follow them like a black cloud for the rest of their lives. It will negatively affect their ability to get a job, especially in a financial sector job. They will have a higher interest rate on any loans or credit cards they apply for, if they get approved at all. Renting an apartment, or applying to take out a mortgage for a home becomes almost impossible. 10 Ways Student Debt Can Derail Your Life.
Delivering a substandard education to minority teenagers in high school, then convincing them to take out student loans to go to college that you know they will most likely not complete, that is just another primrose path to economic slavery and to be bound as a vassal, beholden to government largesse.
And because Leftists are all about feelings, I’m throwing this out:
Michelle Obama wrote this on Twitter:
Back in college, I was one of the few Black students on my campus, and I was proud of getting into such a respected school. I knew I’d worked hard for it. But still, I sometimes wondered if people thought I got there because of affirmative action. It was a shadow that students of like me couldn’t shake, whether those doubts came from the outside or inside of their own minds. [Emphasis mine]
Now, if she got there on her own merits, I’m proud of her. No Ifs, Ands, or Buts. Good for her.
However, I agree that there is a stigma attached to affirmative action. That a student might have gotten in solely because of their skin color, I can see causing resentment. Because that ultimately means another student who did qualify was denied, basically because of their skin color. That can be a great burden of shame to bear, especially when it is self-imposed as Michelle stated. So let’s get rid of the shame. End affirmative action, make everyone get there on their achievements, not skin color. Then there is zero question as to if you deserve to be there or not.
And if you’re upset about my sentiments on this, obviously you did not read the first 400 words I wrote.