‘How Will You Ever Afford to...?’

My students and I study how education impacts individuals by advancing or constraining opportunities. We explore the promise of education as a lever to promote mobility and community change and critically analyze how schools can reproduce structural inequalities that, too often, hold so many people back.

Each semester, my students discuss Harvard economist Raj Chetty’s study that found capable and prepared kindergarten teachers materially impact their students’ lifetime earnings and future quality of life. Chetty and his fellow researchers estimate that for a class of 20 students an above-average kindergarten teacher generates about $320,000 more in lifetime earnings than a lesser teacher.

The bottom line: Teachers make a difference. Chetty’s findings open space for students to tell stories of the importance of memorable teachers in their own lives, although, as one student said, “I don’t need that study to tell me how teachers helped me get to Smith.” It also provokes a discussion about pursuing teaching or a career in education. Those discussions typically encompass a complex tension. They speak of teaching as an honorable way to use what they have learned at Smith in service to society. They also describe how they worry about the economic and practical implications.

Family members and fellow students often raise concerns: Is teaching what you really want to do? Do you know how much teachers make? And, a question that I will hear less of now that Smith has eliminated loans from a Smith student’s financial calculus, “How will you ever afford to pay back your student loans?”

Loans deter college students from pursuing teaching and, for those who teach, loans create financial hardship for years. According to a National Education Association report, nearly half of educators (and 65% of young educators) have taken out a loan to fund their education, with the average amount standing at $55,800. To solve the problems facing our country and communities, we need Smith graduates at the front of classrooms and in educational leadership roles. Smithies bring a capacity for critical analysis, an ethic of resourcefulness, and the ability to work collaboratively and creatively. Henceforth, our students can decide to undertake teaching—or anything else of their choosing!—without the burden of staggering debt.

Out: Shame, Stigma In: Passion, Potential

Faculty members’ quick takes on the promise of life without student loans.

“Smith’s initiative to eliminate loans affords student makers resources for Praxis internship work and creates pathways toward graduate and film school programs, film festivals, and artist fellowships. Historically, application fees have created barriers for students from low-income backgrounds. With support like this, I hope students feel inspired to pursue opportunities that once seemed unattainable.”
ANAIIS CISCO, assistant professor of film and media studies

“I hope grants mean students will explore what excites them. They won’t be in massive debt, so after Smith they could follow the passions they discover here. When I graduated, I believed I could do anything I put my mind to. I’d learned how to learn in multiple modes. My theatre major was critical for this. I can stage-manage and reverse-engineer anything I want to accomplish. I was a math textbook editor. I started a theater company in my 20s. I learned German in my 30s and translated [German writer] Michael Ende’s plays. I decided to write science fiction novels in my 40s. A Smith liberal arts education is a treasure. Grants mean we can share that treasure.”
ANDREA HAIRSTON ’74, Louise Wolff Kahn Professor of Theatre and professor of Africana studies

“When I moved to the U.S. from Yantai, China, to pursue my musical dream and career, I was very fortunate to receive generous scholarships from my school [Juilliard] so I could devote myself to my studies without significant financial burdens. Now, as an educator, I am overjoyed to witness Smith’s move to replace student loans with grants, enabling generations of students from diverse backgrounds to follow their passions and realize their fullest potentials.”
JIAYAN SUN, assistant professor of music

“This initiative begins to level the playing field for students after graduation. It’s an investment in their future lives. Hopefully, it propels more students into the arts, creative careers, and, in the long term, might shift students’ abilities to follow an artistic passion and become an entrepreneur.”
NAIMA GREEN, Harnish Visiting Artist

IMAGINE WHAT’S POSSIBLE

What does it mean for a new generation of Smithies to graduate free from crushing student debt?

Read on to see.

FROM THE PRESIDENT

A Bold Investment in Financial Aid

How did the decision to eliminate loans come to be? President McCartney offers a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most consequential decisions of her tenure.

FINANCIAL HEALTH

‘A More Appealing Education for All’ 

How might the new policy impact student decisions before and after college? An economics professor weighs in.

EQUITY OF OPPORTUNITY

‘Smith Is Decreasing Barriers to Entry’ 

If education has the potential to be transformational, shouldn’t it be accessible to all? A sociologist says yes.

This story appears in the Spring 2022 issue of the Smith Alumnae Quarterly.

Illustration by Fernando Cobelo