The academic paywall
The unspoken costs of academic success
Design by Nethra Pai, Everett Baumann & Milo Park
Nethra Pai, Editor-in-Chief, Everett Baumann, Copy Editor, and Milo Park, Staff Writer
The end of affirmative action sent shockwaves across the country in June 2023. Originally designed to support students from underprivileged backgrounds, the United States Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 majority that colleges cannot take a student's background into account when evaluating their application, stating that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina's admissions programs factored affirmative action into decisions many times during the application process, thus violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
A month later, The New York Times published a study regarding admissions into Ivy League schools, revealing that children of parents who make more than $611,000 a year—the top 1% at the time of the survey—were 34% more likely to receive admittance, even if they had similar test scores compared to lower-income applicants.
"If you have more money, you can get all the materials that you need to study more effectively, and that immediately improves your grades," junior Aditya Upadhyayula said.
This growing link between wealth and academic success has been gaining the attention of many onlookers, with many pointing out that families in the top 1% are usually able to bypass the academic paywall. But what exactly is this academic paywall?
The term "academic paywall" refers to the financial barriers a student may face to enhance their academic standing. This may include many expenses for subject tutoring, SAT or ACT prep, school-sponsored clubs, and extracurriculars outside of school. In many cases, access to these opportunities depends less on merit and more on a student's ability to afford them, raising concerns about fairness and equality.
"[The academic paywall] is a little bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy," Northview Principal Martin Neuhaus said. "It's the community and it's the pressure that parents put on students [telling them that] this is what is needed to be successful."
The academic paywall means that for students to achieve their version of success, they need access to costly resources. As the community becomes more competitive, students feel the need to force themselves higher up the ladder, doing more to outperform their peers. It goes beyond just the costs for composition notebooks, pencils, and backpacks. Upon deeper scrutiny, success requires a plethora of assets. Over the years, the number of activities that a student can partake in has grown, and so has the cost.
"I have definitely, over the years, seen a shift in the amount of costly things that students believe to be mandatory versus things that are voluntary, and so I think that has certainly impacted the degree to which students can afford to participate in all the things that they believe to be required," AP English Language and Composition teacher Elizabeth Lake said. "Nowadays, at least from the teacher perspective, it seems like it is more common than not for students to go to tutoring for SAT, ACT, or maybe preparing for certain AP exams."
This shift means that academic support, like tutoring, once a resource for struggling students, is now a routine cost for many to ensure that students pass their classes and receive good grades. These costs aren't going down either.
"I've heard from people paying up to $150 an hour for group tutoring for the AP [classes]," Physics teacher Anu Bhardwaj said. "When my kids were in school a couple of years ago, the most I paid was $90 an hour."
On top of foundational tutoring costs, a common belief is that a large part of a well-rounded college application is extracurricular activities as they show colleges a student's passions and personality. However, the truth is that the more extracurriculars a student has, the more money they've spent.
Clubs and sports have fees that stack up, often exceeding hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, these extracurriculars do not determine the cost. Many school clubs must register with parent organizations, and they use the money to host meetings, make T-shirts, and create extra opportunities for members. While necessary, these costs can add up quickly, leading to some students seeking alternative extracurricular options.
"I have had students who've told me that they got involved in theater because they couldn't necessarily afford to play a particular sport or be involved in a particular club or activity that costs money," Lake said. "Sometimes you might have to buy dance shoes or something similar, but [theater] is a relatively cheap extracurricular to be involved in."
The academic paywall is most evident when students are unable to pursue passions that could develop into careers, which is a key reason for engaging in extracurricular activities. Missing these opportunities will leave students less prepared for college and beyond.
"A lot of [Beta] events are very career-oriented. So you can really figure out, 'Oh, maybe I like this.' There's value to a lot of things. The price may be a little bit higher than what I want to pay, but ultimately, I'm just looking for the opportunity," sophomore Aanya Shah said.
Many students find it challenging to talk about their financial difficulties. They might feel embarrassed and choose to hide their struggles at school.
"There are some provisions that allow us to help any kid that needs it, but these students have to be willing to share, reach out, and say we're in a financial hardship," Neuhaus said. "It's really ultimately up to the students to [ask]. Asking for help is a sign of strength. It's not a sign of weakness."
Luckily, there are ways to decrease the costs of expensive activities. Many extracurriculars raise funds to reduce the barrier to entry and additional opportunities, such as selling popcorn or chocolate, making them less cost-prohibitive, but a lack of enthusiasm for fundraising can make it difficult to lessen costs.
"I think a lot of it comes down to [the] willingness of students and families to participate in fundraising efforts as much as possible, because, sometimes, fundraising helps people who couldn't afford something," Lake said. "Kids think, 'Oh, I don't need to fundraise. My parents could just write a check for my activity fee.' But if people got really involved with fundraising efforts, then that would be able to allay those fees for the people who really need that support and help."
