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More graduates consider selves in lower-income class

October 1, 2012

According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, more college graduates feel they are in the lower rungs of society than four years ago.

The number of recent graduates who place themselves in the lower class has grown 5 percent since 2008, according to the study.

Current students at MSU have a similar problem: Many who already consider themselves lower class have an even harder time affording college, according to the MSU Office of Financial Aid.

The Pew Research Center reported 17 percent of college graduates now consider themselves lower-class citizens, compared to 12 percent in 2008.

After graduation, more also have been subject to sacrifices such as trouble paying bills or trouble paying rent or mortgage, according to the study.

The study also shows graduates are more likely to doubt the concept of social mobility — in general, they believe hard work and dedication do not pay off as much for lower-class citizens, compared to middle and higher class citizens.

The MSU Office of Financial Aid has found a somewhat similar problem during the past few years — numbers show the students who already are lower-class citizens are getting even poorer.

Communication senior Katie Wiley said she knows what it is like to feel like a lower-class citizen.

“Being from a family that’s financially struggling, I know that it’s harder to have a positive attitude about the future, especially when money is not available,” Wiley said, explaining how her family’s financial situation declined after her father was laid off.

Rick Shipman, the director of financial aid at MSU, said students haven’t necessarily been moving from the middle to lower class, but students in the lower class have been getting poorer.

“The number of MSU students receiving financial aid has not increased appreciably since 2008,” Shipman said in an email.
“However, more students are demonstrating more financial need for aid in 2011-12 than in 2008-09.”

In 2008, students received $531 million in financial aid, rising to $638 million in 2011, according to data from the office.

The number of students getting aid actually decreased, Shipman said, while the total amount of dollars received by students went up by about $107 million.

The Pew study also found that college graduates in the lower class have had many more troubles paying for necessities during the past year.

Fifty-three percent of lower-class college graduates have experienced two or more problems, including trouble paying bills and trouble getting medical care, the study found.

Wiley is among this percentage; she said she has not been able to pay her credit card bill for months.

“The amount of hard work for a lower class to be successful compared to middle class is proportionally much larger,” Wiley said.

“There is much more work that needs to be done to get from point A to point B in a lower class than maybe from an upper or middle class.”

But human biology senior Megan Card said she believes working hard does pay off, regardless of class status.

“I’ve always been in the middle class because I’ve always worked hard and I’ve had success from working hard,” Card said.

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