To the editor,
In the recent higher education commentary titled “4 Lessons on Lower-Income Student Success,” author Joshua Bay highlights how persistent financial strain fundamentally undermines undergraduate students’ ability to complete their higher education and outlines tangible ways that institutions can better support them. Having navigated my own undergraduate education in acute poverty and now contributing professionally to ongoing conversations about improving college students’ financial well-being, I found Bay’s article to be particularly timely, necessary, and important for the broader academic community. However, as a current graduate student, I have encountered another significant, yet frequently overlooked, gap in educational support: the combined financial and structural challenges that uniquely affect graduate students, particularly those enrolled in advanced programs with limited assistantship and funding opportunities.
While much of the national conversation regarding student poverty and retention focuses on the undergraduate experience, graduate education is by no means immune to these economic pressures. In fact, graduate students frequently face a distinct set of compounding burdens. They may struggle with acute food and housing insecurity, inadequate health care options, prohibitive transportation costs, and a host of other basic living expenses, all while navigating intensely demanding academic programs that routinely leave little to no time for paid employment.
As a master of social work student, my daily reality involves balancing a full-time course load, an unpaid mandatory practicum internship, and exhausting commutes of up to 90 minutes each way to both campus and my designated practicum placement. Despite utilizing federal loans that covered my tuition and fees—leaving very little else for the realities of daily life—I have still been forced to take on a part-time job that barely covers the rising costs of transportation and groceries.
The resulting physical and psychological exhaustion are not simply isolated personal challenges or individual failures of time management; rather, they reflect a deeper, systemic educational structure that far too often assumes students can effortlessly afford to prioritize school over paid work. For graduate students who are routinely forced to make impossible choices between attending class, affording gas to get to campus, and working extra hours simply to cover basic survival expenses, institutional emergency aid may occasionally offer some temporary relief. However, the bureaucratic hurdles of additional applications and endless paperwork create yet another exhausting burden for students who are already struggling just to stay afloat.
Institutions of higher education should actively build upon Bay’s recommendations by addressing a critical fifth issue: the urgent need to re-evaluate graduate program structures. While my personal experience is specific to social work education, the broader concern extends across accredited graduate programs in numerous disciplines. The overarching goal here is certainly not to lower academic standards or compromise the rigor of professional training, but rather to ensure that programs are structured and delivered in ways that are genuinely educationally effective, equitable, and sustainable for students from all walks of life.
Accreditation standards establish the fundamental educational requirements necessary for professional practice, but individual institutions and faculty members retain the primary responsibility for how those standards are practically implemented. This responsibility includes carefully evaluating the volume and sequencing of coursework and assignments, coordinating deadlines and course content to intentionally reduce repetitive overlap and unnecessary textbook costs, and seriously reconsidering whether the cumulative demands of a rigorous two-year program are realistic or humane for students who must also work to support themselves in the present economic climate.
Furthermore, professional programs that strictly require internships, such as social work, nursing, and education, must closely examine the heavy financial and logistical burdens associated with unpaid practicum placements. These burdens frequently include hidden costs like professional attire, background checks, parking fees, transportation costs, and lengthy daily commutes that drain both financial resources and personal energy.
Re-evaluating these educational structures does not mean compromising academic rigor or diluting the value of a professional degree. However, it does mean ensuring that the ways graduate students are expected to meet those rigorous standards are intentional, effective, and actually attainable for students across diverse economic circumstances. Higher education cannot responsibly promise economic mobility and opportunity while simultaneously structuring degree completion around the antiquated assumption that all students have outside financial support systems to fall back on. If graduate programs genuinely want students from lower-income backgrounds to succeed, graduate, and go on to serve their communities—particularly in critical fields like social work—they must make education sustainable throughout the entire duration of the degree, rather than merely accessible at the point of admission.
Naomi Hill is an M.S.W. candidate at the University of Georgia School of Social Work.
