Literature Review #5

My source is called "Why Parents Pay for College: The Good Parent, Perceptions of Advantage, and the Intergenerational Transfer of Opportunity." This source talks about three types of parent's consciousness about paying for college. It first talks about how parents think their children will benefit from college. Next, it talks about how parents feel obligated to pay for their children's college education. And lastly is discusses what parents feel they deserve in return for paying for the their child's education. Parents feel that they need to help their children out with paying for college but why? " Conventional wisdom would suggest that money spent on one thing cannot be spent on another. Such a presumption holds that the money parents allocate for their children's education cannot be spent on themselves"(pg. 267). Parents feel that they need to pay for their children's education to take care of them. It's a physiological thing, parents feel like they need to take care of their "children" (even though most college students are 18 and older making them adults) because they raised them and this is letting them still play a large role in their lives. Some parents want to be seen as "the good parent" and paying for college is a way that they feel will help them succeed at that. "Although parents may not be able to articulate precisely the idea, their words suggest that paying for college maximizes the likelihood of their maintaining a core identity. The emotional, occupational, and financial success of their children sustains and nourishes heir own status as a 'good parent'"(267). Parents also want to help their children with college because children are often reflections of their parents. So if parents want their children to succeed and make them look good and feel good about themselves as parents, some parents will want their children to go to college. And it's difficult to pay for college as a student so the parents will help. "Because children are seen as reflections of their parents, the parents are evaluated by significant others in terms of their children's successes and failures. Seen this way, the purchase of a college education is an insurance policy against negative self-concepts for children and parents alike" (268). So this source really talks about what the "good parent" is and why parents try to act this way. This was written by Lynda Lytle Holmstrom, David A. Karp and Paul S. Gray. Holmstrom is a professor of sociology at Boston College and specializes in applying to college and how families are involved. Karp is also a professor of sociology at Boston College. Paul S. Gray is also a professor of sociology at Boston College. So all of these professors have a lot of experience with sociology and how people think. This is directly related to my topic of the sociological aspect of paying for college. This is exactly the information that I need. 

Terms:

The "good parent"- a parent who pays for their child's college education

Social Class- people who have the same educational or economic status 

Holmstrom, Lynda L., David A. Karp, and Paul S. Gray. "Why Parents Pay for College: The Good Parent, Perceptions of Advantage, and the Intergenerational Transfer of Opportunity." Symbolic Interaction 34.2 (2011): 265-89. Print.

Argument and Counter- Argument

I think I'm going to go with the sociological argument for my paper. The source you found for me really has some great information that I think will really make my argument strong. I still need to find more sources but the bibliography for the source has many good sources. My argument is going to be why are parents paying for college at all? most students who go to college begin at the age of 18. This is the age when people become legal so why do colleges assume that parents are going to help their children pay for college? When applying for college and loans, many questions are asked about your parents income. This is an assumption that parents are going to help their children with college tuition. But even if the 18 year old is claimed as an independent to try to get more financial aid for school, parents information and income is still needed. This is very interesting and I want to find out more about why this is part of the process of applying to college. Why is it that it is assumed that our parents are going to help us pay for college even though we are the legal age when we apply to college? I think it's because it's so expensive now a days that colleges know that most 18 year olds can't handle it on their own. But is that right? Technically 18 year olds should be taking care of college payments by themselves since they are legal. Other sources say that parents shouldn't pay for college and that students should take out loans or go to community college. I have yet to find a source that is truly against students paying or at least helping with some of their college tuition. I think it's because today's society is unable to help their children pay for college. So then why is it that when applying to college, the students are asked so many questions about their parents income? My argument is that colleges shouldn't ask for parent information when students apply to college because it seems like they are assuming that parents are paying for college and why is that when most college students are legal adults?

Literature Review #4

I found a really good source written by Laura Hamilton. Laura Hamilton is a sociology professor at the University of California and has her Ph.D from Indiana University, her M.A. from Indiana University and her B.A. from DePauw University. Her paper is based off a study she conducted in which she lived in a college dorm to observe student's behaviors. Her paper is based on a study that she did about the results of parents paying for college. Her paper is called  "More is More or More is Less? Parental Financial Investments during College." This paper talks about parents paying for their child's education and the problems with that. Hamilton uses data from "five nationally representative postsecondary datasets to determine what effect financial parental investments have on student GPA and degree completion." She found that student's who's parents pay for their education are more likely to graduate but have a lower GPA. "While parental aid decreases student GPA, it increases the odds of graduating — net of explanatory variables and accounting for alternative funding." "Students with parental funding often perform well enough to stay in school, but dial down their academic efforts." Hamilton thinks this has to do with a social factor, that students who pay for college on their own work harder and socialize less often than students who parents pay for their education. She suggests that students who pay for college on their own take it more seriously and work harder for a good GPA. 

Another article I found is written by Maureen Downey called "College students post lower grades when parents pay more toward their educations." This article pretty much just gives excerpts from Laura Hamilton's paper. Maureen Downey is a reporter for AJC and she has written articles about local, state and  federal education for twelve years. She also taught college classes about communications and journalism. Talking about Laura Hamilton:
“There were some affluent families who thought their children were spoiled and didn't pay the whole cost, and there were some families who had scrimped and saved and borrowed from family members and taken out loans,” she said. “And the affluent families aren't hurt the most by the lower grades, because they had the connections to call the head of NBC or the N.F.L. and get their child a job. It’s more of a problem for the middle-class parents, who worked hard to pay the college costs, used up their retirement funds and are out of money by graduation time.” 

I think this is the perfect article for my paper. I think this is the best one I have found so far and I think it will really help with me my paper. I think it will help my argument that students should pay for their own education and Laura Hamilton gives many points as to why they should.

Terms:
postsecondary- any education beyond high school
dissertation- A long essay on a particular subject, one written as a requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy degree






This is Laura Hamilton.

This is Maureen Downey.











Works Cited:

Hamilton, Laura. "Laura Hamilton, Assistant Professor." Laura Hamilton. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2013.

Downey, Maureen. "College Students Post Lower Grades When Parents Pay More toward Their Educations." Get Schooled RSS. N.p., 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 02 Apr. 2013.