The Working Classes and Higher Education: Inequality of Access

Though traditional working-class jobs now demand higher levels of education, educational policies make it increasingly difficult for working-class students to afford tuition at four-year colleges and universities, placing them in low-ranking institutions with plummeting retention and completion rates. Through a sociological framework, this volume challenges the popular notion of higher education access as a means to social mobility and equal opportunity for working-class students. It highlights the successes of working-class students within the constraints and obstacles presented by the current structure of the higher education system.