" Sharing One Skin" -Jeanette Armstrong

“Sharing One Skin,” by Jeanette Armstrong, talks about the importance of community. She gives us the message by portraying how important her Okanagan community is to her. She also states the four capacities of self, which are the physical self, the emotional self, the thinking intellectual self, and spiritual self. This results in the body being Earth itself. Overall, she briefly explains how her Okanagan community is important to her,and the community is connected as one. 

Armstrong, Jeanette. 1996 “Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community.” Pp.460-470 in Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith (eds.), The Case Against the Global Economy, San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books. 

How Place Names Impact the Way we See Landscape- B.Toastie

“How Place Names Impact the Way We See Landscape,” by B. Toastie, shows us that storytelling is really important, especially amongst Indigenous people. Storytelling is tied with landscape. By story telling, it helps you realize your surroundings, someone, or even something is more important than you think. You will learn to have more respect for these things. Overall, her main purpose about this article is to keep storytelling so you can know the history and importance of that topic.

Toastie, B, 2022 “How Place Names Impact the Way We See Landscape: High Country News, Know the West.”

How Place Names Impact the Way we See Landscape- B.Toastie

 “And Then I Went to School” by Joe Suina, talks about his experience at the boarding school. He gives us examples on how they treated Native culture. He was basically whitewashed. While he attended this school, he distanced himself from his indigenous ways. He wanted to have a perfect life, which meant he wanted to be white. Later on in the story, he finally realizes that his Native wars are far more important than being something he's not. By going to boarding school, he loses his sense of identity. But while conversing with his family and his friends, he knew where he belonged.

Suina, Joe. “And Then I Went to School: Memories of a Pueblo Childhood.”

How the Cost of College Went From Affordable to Sky-High

Based on some research that I collected, I got an insight of why college went from being affordable to sky high, some ways students can possibly afford college, and how college finance works and what to expect. For instance, in one article I chose, titled “How the Cost of College Went From Affordable to Sky-High,” talks about how tuition and fees have skyrocketed in the last 5 years. It provides us with key information of different facts. For example, Corbett states, “a high school diploma just won't get you very far.” Another example is when Sandy Baum says, “The unemployment rate is high. Nobody's wages have gone up in recent years. Increases in college tuition at public colleges, particularly in recent years, have been unacceptable.” With these claims, we get an understanding that college is getting way too expensive. And why is that? In this article it states, “ It's that they have to get that money from someplace to replace their lost state of funding-and that's from tuition and fees from students and families.” Overall, in this article we get an insight on why college is so expensive.

Sanchez, Claudio. “How The Cost of College Went From Affordable To Sky-High.” 18 March 2014,npr.org/2014/03/18/290868013/how-the-cost-of-college-went-from-affordable-to-sky-high. Accessed on 16 Oct 2023.

History of College Scholarships

In another article titled “History of College Scholarships,” it mainly talks about the history behind financial aid scholarships. The history behind financial aid scholarships reaches back all the way back to ancient Greece. It states that most students will need to go into significant debt in order to underwrite the credentials that they hope will offer them financial aid advantage in later life. With this, it talks about how students need financial aid to afford college. For example, at the end of the article, it states “it is probable that future generations of students will continue to rely to some extent on grant and scholarship aid.” Overall, many students use financial aid scholarships to be able to afford college. 

Paalard,Richard. “History of College Scholarships” Saving For College, 6 Feb 2020, Savingforcollege.com/article/history-of-college-scholarships

Student Loan Forgiveness and the Future of Paying for College.

I also watched a CNBC video titled, “Student Loan Forgiveness and the Future of Paying for College.” This video talks exactly about what is stated in the title. There is forgiveness going on but only for very specific populations. For example, this forgiveness has been targeted to some of the more vulnerable populations; national emergency situation to loosen up the rules for existing programs that those who discharge loans that are permanently disabled, students that has been defrauded by their institutions, borrowers that pursue a career in public service loan forgiveness fields, or have their payments based on income. With this, you need to build a financial plan. Additionally, they shared what families should know before sending their children to college. The man stated, “It is likely to be more expensive tomorrow than it is today” and “Go to the best value school you can go to.” His advice was not to go to a school that is mostly known if there is another cheaper school that provides the same education. They then told us to know the pros and cons of the 529 plans and custodial accounts. Lastly, they said to look at the data and then build a budget. Overall, this video gave a lot of insight into how college finance works and what to expect. 

Dickler,Jessica. “Student Loan Forgiveness and the Future of Paying for College.” CNBC, 15 July 2022, cnbc.com/2022/07/15/inflation-is-suddenly-making-college-more-expensive-than ever.html

Why College is So Expensive

In "Why College is So Expensive?' gives us an insight of truth of why college is so expensive.zit provides us the information about the history and statistics, how the population has increased, the factors of financial aid,  and what the rise of tuition does to students. College is actually the second largest expense a person will likely make, right after paying a house. For financial aid, it may be beneficial but in reality for every new dollar of federal student aid, tuition increases up to 65 cents. By college tuition rising, it makes students go into debt and leave them with student loans. Colleges have also been adding more facilities. These updates make campuses more appealing to potential students, but also add financial strain. With this, as education costs rise, outpacing inflation wages,the cost benefit analysis of traditional on-campus learning may reach a tipping point. 

Chamlou, Nina. “What Factors Are Driving Rising College Costs?” Affordable Colleges Online, 23 Sept. 2021, www.affordablecollegesonline.org/college-resource-center/news/what-factors-are-driving-rising-college-costs/.

College Tuition Inflation: Compare The Cost of College Over Time

"College Tuition Inflation: Compare The Cost of College Over Time" provides information why the cost of college over time has increased and why the cost of college overtime has increased and provides some factors on how to help with that. Some of the reasons ehy college tuition has increases is because colleges provide things like support services, which include mental health services, securing housing food, transportation, child care, academic advising, and more. They also provide the newest technology, highly educated professors and administrators, and innovations in other areas. Since colleges provide these things, colleges need more money to pay for these. Some solutions to prevent highly overpriced schools is to either attend in state college or a community college and apply for financial aid.

McGurran, Brianna. “College Tuition Inflation: Compare the Cost of College over Time.” Forbes Advisor, Forbes, 9 May 2023, www.forbes.com/advisor/student-loans/college-tuition-inflation/.

Why College is So Expensive in America (CNBC Video)

In this video it provided us with background information that included statistics, and college students point of views. One thing I found interesting was that public schools get their money from the government, For profit schools get their money from shareholders, and non profit schools get their money from donors. This video then talked about specific dates that helped students pay for college and give them more opportunities. For example in 1944 the G.I Bill was signed into law, which helped students that were in the military get a free education. Also, the civil rights movement, which helped women and minorities attend college. This video  then gave us an insight on how this issue of college being too expensive made the students feel. For example in the video a female student said, "I thought that I would just withdraw and be fine, but then a couple of weeks after I withdrew, I got an email from the school saying that I owed them $6,000 right away, and that was rough. So I didn't know how I would pay that, and that was very stressful. " With all of these students points of views, it is clear to say that Americans are becoming less convinced that a college degree is worth it. 

CNBC. “Why College Is so Expensive in America.” YouTube, 6 Feb. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWJ0OaojfiA.

"Going to College While Going Without"

"Going to College While Going Without" talks about how college students are struggling to meet their basic needs and that even some studentsare are even skipping meals or eatting less than they need. The rates of insecurtiy were highest among Black and Indigenous students. Although this is an issue in many colleges, California lawmakers have been working to address students needs. As a result, the community college system has reported slight improvements in students meeting their basic needs. These include food insecurity and housing insecurity. Although these community colleges should take a lot of credit for providing and investing in these issues, the deep problem requires a long term commitment from both states and the federal government. 

Blake, Jessica. “Going to College While Going Without.” Inside Higher Ed, 27 Sept. 2023, www.insidehighered.com/news/students/physical-mental-health/2023/09/27/community-college-students-struggle-meet-basic.

"Is Rising Student Debt Harming the U.S Economy?"

In "Is Rising Student Debt Harming the U.S Economy?" talks about the issue of student debt. It states that student debt is growing as more and more students attend college. It also states that the cost of college and resulting debts, is higher in the United States than in almost all other countries, where higher education is often free or heavily subsidized. There is also racial disparity in student borrowing that many experts say is problematic and the result of decades of systemic discrimination. Black, Latinx, and American Indian students are all more likely to default on their loans than white students because they typically have lower levels of family wealth. Overall, many experts and policy makers agree that both the rising cost of college and the existing volume of loans need to be addressed. They acknowledge that surging student debt is harming younger generations of students by preventing them from reaching their financial goals while exacerbating racial inequality. 

CFR.org editors. “Is Rising Student Debt Harming the U.S. Economy?” Council on Foreign Relations, 22 Aug. 2023, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-student-loan-debt-trends-economic-impact.

"New Report Finds Community College Students Struggling to Afford Basic Needs, Highlights Institutional Support"

This article talks about the issue of students struggling to pay for things like food, housing, transportation, etc. For instance it says, "Students-parents, low income students, and the students of color were more likely than their peers to be vulnerable not only to food and housing insecurity but also to a lack of access to affordable childcare, physical and mental health care, technology, transportation." With this being an issue, several colleges are working to meet these students basic needs by providing these things for them. These schools include Arizona Maricopa Community College District (drive up food distribution), Missouri's Ozarks Technical Community College (free breakfast every week day if they have a valid student ID), and the Student Advocacy & Resource Center at Northwest Vista College in Texas (free mental health counseling, and help access personal care items.) Overall other schools are also creating programs to help students find affordable, equitable access to transportation. With this, I feel like every college should provide these basic needs for their students. 

Clarke, Kimberly P. “New Report Finds Community College Students Struggling to Afford Basic Needs, Highlights Institutional Support.” THE FEED, 21 Oct. 2022, feed.georgetown.edu/access-affordability/new-report-finds-community-college-students-struggling-to-afford-basic-needs-highlights-institutional-support/.