Pandemic Affects for Low-Income Students

By: Tracy Young

“Can you turn on your camera?”  That was a daily ask of our low-income first gen high school seniors as we mentored them through the pandemic.  I figured the cameras were off because our students were more self conscious, what teenagers aren't.  I was naive. 

While the pandemic’s “work from home” was a respite for most white collar professionals (ie. generous allowances for home office setups, less commuting time, etc.), it dramatically worsened the inequality education gap for low-income families and set these families back years. 

In the pandemic, most of our student’s parents lost their jobs and were forced to cobble together any work they could find, many times working three jobs.  The daily burden of caring for younger siblings, helping them navigate distance learning and homework fell on the shoulders of our seniors, who themselves were falling behind academically. 

On top of that, our low-income students lacked adequate study space or a desk, very with most using their beds as they battled spotty or non-existent internet.  One report cited a student logged back into her school class more than 15 times in 50 mins as her wifi kept going down. 

At one point one of our students was sent to Colorado to take care of a multi-family household of relatives who were sick with COVID and had 6 young children who were needing care. The student missed a month of school and disengaged from her life as a senior. 

I know of a low-income high school junior whose dad had lost his job.  In order to pay the rent, the student worked with his dad doing Instacart.  “It was super hard at first, but we found that if I helped my dad, we could go faster and get better orders.  So I worked most of the week and school suffered, but my family wasn’t evicted.” 

And then there was the emotional toll.  Our students worried about their “essential worker” parents becoming ill or dying of COVID.  They dealt with food scarcity, possible eviction and fears that their college plans were dashed due to lack of income and poor grades. These pressures bred disengagement, isolation and depression.  

According to the CDC’s adolescent Behaviors and Experiences survey in June 2021, 37% of students in high schools reported that their mental health was not good most or all of the time during the pandemic.  Unfortunately, low-income students rarely receive mental health resources due to their parents lack of health insurance. 

Obtaining a college degree was already an uphill battle with only 12% of low-income first gen students accomplishing it, COVID made it seem impossible. 

Columbia University’s Community College Research Center (CCRC) found in October 2021 that 45% of low-income prospective students canceled their community college plans, compared to around 13% of high-income students and over one-third of households with prospective community college students said that the coronavirus was a significant factor impacting their college plans.

There has always been an opportunity gap between those who can afford college and those who cannot, the pandemic just widened and accelerated it.

“Our worst fears have been realized," said Jenny Rickard, president and CEO of the Common App which is used by over 1 million students each year and is accepted by more than 900 U.S. schools.. "Because what remains of the system that had already disadvantaged low-income, first-generation, and BIPOC [black indigenous and people of color] students has made those students even more vulnerable." 

Our program of individually mentoring low-income high school seniors through the college application/funding process was a bright spot.  During the pandemic our mentors helped 120 low-income seniors be accepted to more than 500 4-year colleges and helped their mentees find valuable funding.   

My second year in the pandemic, I no longer asked students to turn on their cameras. The fact that they were even showing up to their weekly mentoring was good enough. 

The Reach Foundation’s work has never been more relevant or necessary.  For the next 10 years we will be mentoring these low-income students who suffered learning losses during the pandemic and providing pathways to college.

Join us as we equalize opportunities and access to college for low-income student. Invite your team or department to mentor this coming year one-hour-a-week or donate generously through your company’s corporate matching or connect us to your foundation team. Learn more.