A Student's Dilemma: "I am just so poor."

Sometimes, knowing that something is bound to happen doesn’t make it any easier to accept.

That was the case this week, when I received emails from two students informing me they would be dropping my class – not because they didn’t enjoy it or were struggling academically, but because they said they don’t have the money to pay for the class or need to pick up extra hours at work for financial reasons.

“I am just so poor,” one student, a quiet young lady with a bright smile and a natural sense of curiosity, wrote in her note. “I have to work more hours and just really can’t afford to be in school right now. I have looked at my budget and all my options. It’s just not possible for me right now.”

People, including fellow community college faculty members, sometimes argue with me about the merits of such explanations.

“Going to community college is cheap and there are all kinds of loans available,” one colleague from a neighboring college told me. “It’s really not that big of a deal. These students are just giving you excuses.”

And maybe taking on a few thousand dollars in debt over the course of a community college career doesn’t sound like much of a financial risk to those of us from middle or upper middle class backgrounds.

But taking on debt of any amount can feel too risky to many low-income students, particularly those who may have family members, including parents, younger siblings or their own children counting on them for financial support.

Some students are understandably apprehensive because they have seen people around them attend school and graduate but then, for some reason or another, not go on to secure a higher paying job.

For these students, college seems to not only have not paid off, but it seems to have saddled them with unnecessary debt they don’t know how to pay back.

It is true that community colleges remain an excellent option for many of America’s students, particularly nontraditional students and those from low-income backgrounds. And it is true that the poorest of students can often receive subsidies that do not require repayment. But many students are still not earning enough to comfortably attend school and take on loans and it is causing them to abandon their college and career plans.

Ideally, students who see themselves as “so poor” should still be able to figure out ways to remain in class – and instructors like me should have options to offer them.