Money Does Affect Education


A person’s education is considered essential because it places people in a box of being “intelligent” and gives them a better opportunity in finding a job. While being uneducated places people in a box of being “dumb” therefore, finding a job is a bit of a struggle. Due to the cycle of education and money, getting a quality education is not always a choice because of the fact that schools are not all free, so education is an investment in a person's life which means not everyone can afford. As a result, the biggest factor in how good of an education a person receives is not how smart they are, but how much money they have.

People who already have money are most likely to finish school than people who requires funding. The reason for this is because people who need cash has to work to support their family such as paying their bills or even school tuition or allowances. Based on an article published in the National Education Association, 30% of ages that ranges from 16-18 years old drop out of school due to working multiple jobs. The reason for these kids dropping out of school is because they have to take on so much responsibilities at such a young age which can lead to stress. If the person is unable to focus in school and does not attend frequently due to working multiple jobs, they are absent in their education. Therefore, they are lacking education since cash is something that everyone needs due to the fact that bills won’t pay on their own.

According to a report from the Albert Shanker Institute which is a nonprofit organization that honors the late president of Federation of Teaching, it stated that money matters and that people who have more money and use it correctly receive a better education. This is due to the fact that if the person seeking an education spends their money wisely, the people who do can basically get more help with their help of their rich parents when needed which equals more financial resources. This shows that people who have more money are able to buy more resources to help them excel in a subject that they are struggling with.

A better education includes being able to graduate college, and giving a person a better opportunity to be successful in their career. But due to the increasing cost of college, education has gotten harder, especially for the people who cannot afford to pay for their education. In the articles, College Board and Adventure In Education, it states four year classes in a public institution costs about twenty-three thousand eight hundred ninety dollars per year and can range up to thirty-two thousand dollars per year. The amount of payment needed for the tuition fees do not include the food, books, supplies, housing, or  transportation fee yet which costs nearly half of the price of the student’s tuition fee. Back in 2015,  based on College Board, tuition, room fees, and board costs about eighteen thousand nine hundred thirty one dollars. As of 2016, it has increased by 3.3% aka adding on an extra six hundred seventeen dollars. Although, different types of school varies from different amounts of tuition fees needed, a wealthier person can just go to the school they want to go to and pay it off. A person in the lower class has to work harder to satisfy their dreams which do not always go well.

The people with more cash have better advantages than people with less cash. This is because the people that are wealthier don’t even have to be smart and still be able to go to the school that person want to go too. In fact, the rich people can be the dumbest kid alive but be able to afford to get tutors to make them more wiser while a person who needs more financial support has to work harder to sustain their needs. Based on the article, Daily Mail, it states that being rich can actually increase brainpower. Researcher Dr. Kimberly Noble said, “This is the critical point. The brain is the product of both genetics and experience and experience is particularly powerful in moulding brain development in childhood.” People with less money are often more stressed out which can result in a bad behavior in school. Like the movie, Freedom Writer, Hilary makes the students write about their experience and some of them are caused by home problems. Not graduating college would affect the lower class knowledge and may force them to drop out of whatever dreams they have.

When asked, people with more money might say that they have their education hard, but on closer inspection, the people with less money have it harder. The rich people might say this because of the expectation their parent might expect from them. This results in them to be more stress out due to working multiples jobs and finding a job suitable for their living, it would result of them to have a higher rate of dropout from school which would interfere with their education. Even though, it is possible for people with less money to graduate and get a good education, it is more rare and most likely more stressful due to being indebted as well which would be difficult to pay off. Infact, based on Debt.org, it states that today the total U.S. student in debt is 1.2 trillions of dollars. This is a lot of money that needs to be paid off. This being said, the more money the person makes, the better education they get no matter how smart they are.

Works Cited:


"Education." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.


Baker, Bruce D. "Does Money Matter in Education? Second Edition." Shanker Institute. Bruce D. Baker, 2016. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.


By 2020, an Estimated Two-thirds of Job Openings Will Require Postsecondary Education or Training.[3]. "Fact Sheet: Focusing Higher Education on Student Success." Fact Sheet: Focusing Higher Education on Student Success. N.p., 27 July 2015. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.



Neatoday. "Why Students Drop Out: The Economic Pressures That Make Leaving School Unavoidable - NEA Today." NEA Today. N.p., 2015. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.


Does Spending More on Education Improve Academic Achievement? Retrieved September 24, 2016


"Student Loan Resources: Financial Aid & Loan Debt Management."

Debt.org News. Web. 27 Sept. 2016.



Fiona Macrae for the Daily Mail. "Does Being Rich Make You SMART? Academic Success Is Linked to Your Parents' Wealth, Study Claims." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 2015. Web. 27 Sept. 2016.



"Average Published Undergraduate Charges by Sector, 2015-16." - Trends in Higher Education. Web. 27 Sept. 2016.



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Comments (2)

Jessica Celli (Student 2018)
Jessica Celli

Now I see that I am not the only one who sees finances as a barrier to education, and not just a small one. Poverty is a vicious cycle, and the ever competing job market is not helping. The amount of money you make with a college degree vs without one is crazy.

Paul-Ann Whyte (Student 2018)
Paul-Ann Whyte

This expanded my thinking because I have never thought about education that way. Now I see that I realize how lucky I am to have a education and how I need to think twice on how I spend my money