What "Great Equalizer?"

College should be "The Great Equalizer." College should blend students from many different financial backgrounds and hand them the same opportunities. College shouldn't be about how much money you have, but rather, how much drive and talent you have.

But is it? No.

I'm a junior at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, PA. It's set on the Main Line, smack-dab in the middle of a wealthy suburb and the scary, don't-walk-alone-at-night city. We've been labeled a lot of things, but the one I've heard the most is "the poor man's Villanova." Villanova is our "rival" school that's about twenty minutes away. We always seem to be in competition with them, whether it be through sports or academics.

But one thing's for sure: St. Joe's isn't for the "poor man."

With tuition rising above $40,000 a year, this just doesn't make sense. I come from a middle class family, and I'm able to attend St. Joe's because of a scholarship. Loans cover the rest. With most of my friends, this is the same story. We'll all be knee-deep in debt when we leave Philly, and most of us wince at the prospect of grad school loans. But that's not the case with everyone here.

I've met quite a few "privileged" people. People who don't have a scholarship and whose parents pick up the 40 grand tab like it's a pile of pennies. People who drive super-nice cars and live in upscale, $1000-a-month apartments. People who have designer everything and can drop $300 on a shopping trip and not break a sweat. People with 5 different credit cards and a trust fund the size of Texas.

They don't "blend" as well on campus as they think they do. Sometimes, you can know someone's financial situation just by looking at them. It causes a lot of envy, a lot of bitterness. Some kids are here by the skin of their teeth, eating Ramen Noodles for dinner every night. Not so equal.

And then there are the well-off students that you'd never notice. The ones who don't let their financial status define them. The ones who can afford the designer outfits, but don't wear them. The ones who save their money and don't ride around in convertibles and Lexuses. Those are the ones that make me think--make me hope--that one day, college will be an equalizer.

But college will never be an equalizer if the tuitions continue to climb. $40,000 a year automatically excludes people who can't afford it. How is that fair? Setting a tuition that high sets you up for a wealthier population. The others will make it on scholarship and financial aid. But will they become the minority? I hope not.