The Significance of College Education for Low Income Women
Education has always been a route to social mobility in the United States, and a college
education is increasingly important in achieving economic security.
According to the 1998 Current Population Survey, a Bachelor degree holder's gross earnings averaged $40,478, while those who have only a high school diploma earned $22,895.
Research has consistently shown that a college degree is one of the most effective ways to end welfare dependency and assure increased job earnings.
Public assistance recipients perform as well in college as other students.
Public assistance recipients who acquire a college degree report that they experience increased self-esteem and serve as role models for others.
Holders of college degrees are likely to influence their children to attend college, to participate in civic activities, and to contribute to their communities as taxpayers.
Like the GI Bill, the college option represents a long-term investment that will not bust the federal budget. It will contribute to the nation's current need for educated, skilled workers.
Regressive Policy
In 1988 the federal government passed the Family Support Act, the first legislation
that acknowledged the importance of a college degree for a low-income woman’s
economic stability and financial independence. But under TANF most states deny the college
option to temporary assistance recipients. As these women meet their time limits, what
paths to increased earnings will be available to them? Temporary assistance recipients are
being limited to low-paying jobs that do not offer occupational mobility and increased
earnings.
President Clinton recently said that "...we have finally opened the doors of college to all Americans." But TANF denies that guarantee to temporary assistance recipients. As a direct result of the new law, college enrollment of assistance recipients has declined dramatically.
The number of public assistance recipients enrolled in the City University of New York system plummeted from 20,494 in fall 1996 to 10,198 in fall 1998.
In Illinois, during fiscal year 1996, there were 4,281 public assistance recipients in associate’s and bachelor’s degree programs. By May 1998 the number had dropped to 1,889.
At Massachusetts community colleges the number declined from 7,125 in 1994 to 3,657 in 1998.
These scenarios are being played out on college campuses across the nation.
Women who receive temporary assistance want full-time employment. But they know that "just any job" is not good enough to lift them out of poverty and give them independence. Like other Americans, they want work that pays well and that offers benefits. Prior to TANF, those public assistance recipients who earned college degrees became engineers, nurses, counselors, social workers and teachers. The college option must remain available and not be replaced by short-sighted work policies. One TANF recipient aptly summarized the limitations of Workfare: "it has nothing to do with my future. Me wanting to be a doctor and having to sweep floors has nothing to do with anything."