christiefan915
Catalyst
Here's another opinion on the perception that white males are at a disadvantage for scholarships.
MICHEL MARTIN, host: We wanted to dig further into Colby Bohannan's perception that whites, particularly white men, are somehow at a disadvantage when it comes to getting college scholarships. So we've called one of the country's leading experts on college financing, Mark Kantrowitz. He's the publisher of fastweb.com, a free scholarship-matching service, and finaid.org. He's the author of "Secrets to Winning a Scholarship." And he's been called upon to testify before Congress on these matters. And he's with us now from member station WQED in Pittsburgh.
Mark Kantrowitz, welcome. Thanks so much for joining us.
Mr. MARK KANTROWITZ (Publisher, Fastweb.com and Finaid.org; Author): Thank you for having me.
MARTIN: Now, you just heard Colby Bohannan say that he had a difficult time finding scholarships that he was eligible for. Is it true that minorities are more likely to receive college scholarships?
Mr. KANTROWITZ: In fact, they are less likely to receive college scholarships. And they represent about a third of the applicants, but only about 28 percent of the recipients. Caucasian students receive 72 percent of all scholarships. Minority students receive only 28 percent of all scholarships.
MARTIN: Why might that be so?
Mr. KANTROWITZ: Well, partly, the scholarship providers, private scholarships, are sponsored by individuals, and many times for people who are like themselves or who engage in activities like themselves. It's not deliberate discrimination, but, for example, very few minority students engage in equestrian sports, whereas Caucasian students might be more likely to. I mean, that's a pretty rare example. But it shows that when you have scholarships that are for characteristics that you value, then people like you are more likely to qualify for those awards.
MARTIN: You actually say in your book that this is a common misperception and that, actually, every couple of years, somebody comes up with an idea like Colby Bohannan's and tries to generate or create a scholarship specifically for white students. And it generally doesn't take off or last very long. Why do you think that this perception persists? And why is it that these kinds of, like, for-whites-only scholarships don't tend to succeed very well, even though scholarships for people who engage in specific activities that white people might be more interested in, are more likely to participate in, does persist over time?
Mr. KANTROWITZ: Well, the scholarships are a lot rarer than people expect. I mean, families tend to overestimate their eligibility for merit-based awards and underestimate their eligibility for need-based awards. The merit-based scholarships for students who are pursuing a four-year degree, a bachelor's degree, about one in 10 students receives private-sector scholarships to pay for their education. And the average amount used per year is $2,815. So when students have higher expectations about the availability of scholarships and then don't win the scholarships, they want to blame someone. And there are a few high-profile scholarships for minority students, and that attracts the attention. They then want to blame those awards.
As to why these scholarships for whites-only awards or white men tend to not last, they tend to be sponsored by students. Before the current one, there was one by the College Republicans at Boston University. And these are students who are doing this attract publicity, and they generally don't last beyond the students' graduation.
MARTIN: And on this specific perception that Colby Bohannan had, is that white males particularly are at a specific disadvantage, do you have any reflections on that?
Mr. KANTROWITZ: Well, men are underrepresented in college education. For the past decade or two, there has been a shift in college enrollment from men being the majority to women being the majority. I don't have a good explanation for why that shift has occurred, but it's something that I've observed. But the ability of men to win scholarships is about the same as the ability of women, even when you disaggregate it by race.
(Continued)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=134623124
MICHEL MARTIN, host: We wanted to dig further into Colby Bohannan's perception that whites, particularly white men, are somehow at a disadvantage when it comes to getting college scholarships. So we've called one of the country's leading experts on college financing, Mark Kantrowitz. He's the publisher of fastweb.com, a free scholarship-matching service, and finaid.org. He's the author of "Secrets to Winning a Scholarship." And he's been called upon to testify before Congress on these matters. And he's with us now from member station WQED in Pittsburgh.
Mark Kantrowitz, welcome. Thanks so much for joining us.
Mr. MARK KANTROWITZ (Publisher, Fastweb.com and Finaid.org; Author): Thank you for having me.
MARTIN: Now, you just heard Colby Bohannan say that he had a difficult time finding scholarships that he was eligible for. Is it true that minorities are more likely to receive college scholarships?
Mr. KANTROWITZ: In fact, they are less likely to receive college scholarships. And they represent about a third of the applicants, but only about 28 percent of the recipients. Caucasian students receive 72 percent of all scholarships. Minority students receive only 28 percent of all scholarships.
MARTIN: Why might that be so?
Mr. KANTROWITZ: Well, partly, the scholarship providers, private scholarships, are sponsored by individuals, and many times for people who are like themselves or who engage in activities like themselves. It's not deliberate discrimination, but, for example, very few minority students engage in equestrian sports, whereas Caucasian students might be more likely to. I mean, that's a pretty rare example. But it shows that when you have scholarships that are for characteristics that you value, then people like you are more likely to qualify for those awards.
MARTIN: You actually say in your book that this is a common misperception and that, actually, every couple of years, somebody comes up with an idea like Colby Bohannan's and tries to generate or create a scholarship specifically for white students. And it generally doesn't take off or last very long. Why do you think that this perception persists? And why is it that these kinds of, like, for-whites-only scholarships don't tend to succeed very well, even though scholarships for people who engage in specific activities that white people might be more interested in, are more likely to participate in, does persist over time?
Mr. KANTROWITZ: Well, the scholarships are a lot rarer than people expect. I mean, families tend to overestimate their eligibility for merit-based awards and underestimate their eligibility for need-based awards. The merit-based scholarships for students who are pursuing a four-year degree, a bachelor's degree, about one in 10 students receives private-sector scholarships to pay for their education. And the average amount used per year is $2,815. So when students have higher expectations about the availability of scholarships and then don't win the scholarships, they want to blame someone. And there are a few high-profile scholarships for minority students, and that attracts the attention. They then want to blame those awards.
As to why these scholarships for whites-only awards or white men tend to not last, they tend to be sponsored by students. Before the current one, there was one by the College Republicans at Boston University. And these are students who are doing this attract publicity, and they generally don't last beyond the students' graduation.
MARTIN: And on this specific perception that Colby Bohannan had, is that white males particularly are at a specific disadvantage, do you have any reflections on that?
Mr. KANTROWITZ: Well, men are underrepresented in college education. For the past decade or two, there has been a shift in college enrollment from men being the majority to women being the majority. I don't have a good explanation for why that shift has occurred, but it's something that I've observed. But the ability of men to win scholarships is about the same as the ability of women, even when you disaggregate it by race.
(Continued)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=134623124
why is it ok to have a scholarship for black men/women female whites latin american men/women gays transgenders but not for straight white males?