The Culture of Entitlement: Somebody Else Pay for My College Tuition!

The headline on this op-ed piece blog post in the Washington Post says it all:

College applicant: I got in! But I can’t afford it. Was all my hard work for nothing?

The author of the piece, Crysten Price, is a high-school senior in Louisiana who just got admitted to Tulane, so let’s cut her some slack here. But what does it say about the success of President Obama’s constant yammering about how college should be “free” (incrementally, of course, beginning with community college, but we’ve all seen this leftist movie before and know where it’s going)? A lot, is what:

I am one of the top two prospects for valedictorian at Riverside, the opposing student is an African-American female and scholarship student as well. With silent fervor and diligence, together we worked to rise to become the top senior ranks. History will be made graduation day; our high school has yet to rear an African-American valedictorian or salutatorian since its opening in 1970. I believe this to be an extraordinary achievement, considering the politics of our community, the region we live in, the current year, and the odds stacked against us…

To my dismay, I was denied the full scholarship to Tulane. Although being accepted is a pretty astounding achievement, somehow I feel the point I’m desperately trying to prove disintegrated completely. Yes, the middle and lower classes have a place at universities such as this, but when it comes to funding we are on our own. It’s almost as if being let in the door to take a brief look around, but shooed off outright.

One might suggest to Ms. Svrluga Price that millions of students have faced similar circumstances over the years, and many have found a way around or through them: loans, part-time jobs, scholarships (both from the school and elsewhere). Government need not be the first and last resort. Here comes the kicker, though, and it’s unutterably sad:

I want a voice. I want to prove that I am not a product of my hometown’s low expectations.

I want the college education that I worked so hard for yet cannot afford.

I want the rest of the students within my community to leave, to branch out, and to thrive.

I want the destructive system crippling my community to fall.

I want equality of outcome.

And there you have it.

UPDATED: The name of the high-school student has been corrected. Susan Svrluga is a blogger on the Washington Post website who posted Ms. Price’s piece.