Only twelve percent of the over 6,000 undergraduates at Stanford University receive Pell Grants federal grants given to low-income college students.[endnoteRef:1] For these students, success at college is the result of many sacrifices made by them and their families, while for students from more affluent families college might simply be a continuation of a lifetime of opportunities. In her article Low-income Students Feel Left Out at Stanford Carrie Sturrock explores the disconnect that students who come from low-income families experience while at Stanford University. The focus of the article is Jason Scott, a senior at Stanford, and his experiences there as a low income student. This information from him is supplemented by interviews with other students and Stanfords Dean of Admissions, Rick Shaw, as well as with demographic statistics about the universitys student population and information on the cost of attending the school. While there is some analysis of the socioeconomic backgrounds of Stanfords student body, the majority of the article is anecdotal, looking at the occurrences in the lives of individuals without a thorough study of the attitudes of the other low-income students who have also experienced similar events throughout their time at Stanford. From the article, it becomes clear that long before they reach the college level, low-income students struggle with the lower position that they hold in society, while those around then do not realize how much these students are dealing with. [1: (Sturrock 2008)]

The realities of social inequality arent often taught in American schools: growing up, one is unlikely to learn just how drastically dissimilar the lives of the upper class and the lower class are. People experience their own class, but they are unable to understand where they fit into the context of American society[endnoteRef:2]. It is this lack of understanding that leads to situations like those described in this article. One example given is students having to deal with a lack of understanding when they are unable to spend money on unnecessary expenses, whether they are trips with the dorm that cost five dollars or $3000 trips to work with children in Africa. Experiences like these, with the costs that accompany them, are a common part of the American college experience. Students are encouraged to take advantage of these opportunities to get the most out of their time in school, but little is made of how low-income students, who cannot afford to pay for these experiences, can capitalize on their opportunity. This lack of education regarding these matters leads to people developing a false sense of the issue. They assume that if this stratification was a big issue then they would have found out about it earlier, that they would have studied it when they were learning about American history. Even once they become aware that there is an issue, they find themselves unable to grasp the magnitude of the disadvantages that stratification places these students at. [2: (Loewen 2006)]

This stratification of opportunity doesnt begin with college, but is an ongoing process that begins even before birth. The children of lower-class families have to struggle with less access to benefits like health care and quality education[endnoteRef:3]. In the Sturrock article, Scott comments on how he realized that as hard as he thought he had worked in high school, he was at a disadvantage to those students who had the financial means to take advantage of extracurricular activities and extra preparation for school and college applications. As a result of these accumulated disadvantages, students such as Scott find themselves unable to feel like they really belong at the school. While the article discusses things done to support Scott, he feels as if hes in a dream from which he might wake up,[endnoteRef:4] despite all of the work Stanford has done to make it possible for him to pursue his education. Most students think that everyone who is attending a school will have access to the same opportunities provided there, but some people have much easier time taking advantage of these opportunities during their time in school. [3: Ibid] [4: (Sturrock 2008)]

American universities are an institution that, despite efforts to the contrary, are deeply affected by societal stratification. Students from low-income students are at a disadvantage that stems from their lack of resources growing up, while other students do not realize the scope of the issue and are unable to alleviate it. While this article makes it clear that these issues exist, it doesnt outline much that can be done to achieve equality. However, its clear that while the problem they saw exists at the college level, to fix it requires looking back to inequalities that exist long before people reach that point. Bellah, Robert et al. "We Live Through Institutions." In Good Society, 3-12. Vintage Books, 1991.Loewen, James. "The Land of Opportunity." In The Practical Skeptic: Readings in Sociology , by Lisa J. McIntyre, 308-317. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006.Sturrock, Carrie. "Low-Income Students Feel Left Out at Stanford." San Francisco Chronicle, March 31, 2008.