Wait, isn't that all backwards? Doesn't college allow poor people to join the ranks of the upper middle class?
Well maybe that's the way it used to work once upon a time, but not today. Today, the college graduate is burdened with student loans, starting out life already in debt. To make things worse, in 1998, the then Republican controlled Congress passed a law prohibiting student loans from being discharged in bankruptcy. And this was broadened even further in 2005, allowing predatory lending institutions to grow even richer.
Many people graduate college unable to find jobs, and if they do find one, the salary is probably pretty low, hardly enough to justify the crushing debt of student loans. A college degree isn't needed for the majority of jobs that college graduates get placed in. Two generations ago, those same types of jobs were offered to people without college degrees.
But rich people go to elite colleges, and their parents pay for their education so they graduate debt free and obtain six figure jobs like Chelsea Clinton.
Yes, our college education system is set up to help the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. We need to stop deluding ourselves into believing that college opens up opportunities for poor people. Apprenticeships, where people learn valuable skills and get paid at the same time is what we need.