Affirmative Action

The following was written to extend a debate topic that was held in our English Composition class. The topic was "Affirmative Action."



In class, we debated the merits of Affirmative Action as well as its drawbacks. The debate was a tough subject for most of us because none of us (the students) have a really strong tie to the subject. It varies from discussing the war in Iraq, for example, where everyone seems to have a strong opinion.

However, something that I do want to point out (and that is related to the issue of Affirmative Action) concerns financial aid. This point adds weight to neither side of the argument concerning Affirmative Action. However, since beginning school, I have found out something about tuition that I hadn’t known before: tuition isn’t such a drawback that it makes higher education unattainable.

I will use my situation for example. I was always under the impression that tuition was some terrible monster that would keep me from school. However, I have come to find out that this isn’t true at all. In fact, being that my financial situation is not the best has made my tuition burden even less. By properly filling out a FAFSA, you can receive the money that you need to attend school. No one but I pays for my school, rent, car payment- etc. However, by properly filling out my FAFSA, my entire education is paid by a grant and I actually have enough extra financial aid coming in that I get to pocket a portion.

My point is this: Affirmative Action (at least when related to attending college) may very well be a useful tool. However, there are other means for people to attend college even if- at surface level- it seems that they will not be able to financially afford it.