‘Being Not-Rich’: Low-Income Students at Michigan Share Savvy Advice

U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor

An online guide to “Being Not-Rich” on the University of Michigan’s flagship campus has been annotated with dozens of comments and suggestions from students and faculty and staff members since the Google Doc began spreading in January.

Eager contributors have suggested the best part-time jobs in Ann Arbor, warned of tax pitfalls to work-study programs, and recommended good deals for eating and drinking: Taco Tuesday at Cantina, $1 well drinks at Rick’s American Cafe.

At a university with a median family income of $154,000 — highest among its peer institutions — the guide fills a need for help in sifting through resources and making connections to other low-income students.

“There’s this assumption that everyone here is wealthy,” Lauren Schandevel, a junior and a creator of the guide, told The Chronicle. “Most of the resources here are geared toward that kind of student. U of M hasn’t been able to accommodate these new students coming in who might not be the traditional, legacy, white, affluent students.”

The key aspect of the guide is its accessibility, Schandevel said. Some of the advice is anecdotal, but all of it, she said, is based on experience.

Students struggling to relate to wealthier peers who have traveled the world or had more time to participate in after-class activities in high school can find emotional as well as practical support in the guide, said Griffin St. Onge, a junior and co-creator.

Even staff advisers, charged with being wells of resources for students facing a variety of problems, find useful tips in the student-created guide. They’ve shared it among themselves to better help low-income students.

Rachel Patterson, an adviser in the nursing school, said there is a need for more awareness and help for low-income students.

“There are students here, more than we realize, who need this type of support. How to navigate getting a job, how to navigate health care — all of these things wealthy students take for granted,” she said.

Patterson was familiar with the major resource centers described in the guide but said much of the information was new, and would be known only by students,

“When I get first-gen or low-income students, I work with them a lot on how to communicate with a professor and about reaching out for help,” she said.

“I did not know there’s a program to have LSAT/GREs paid for,” she continued. “I could not advise any student where to look for an apartment that’s reasonable or subleasing or any of those things.

“I will advocate for students as much as I can. But sometimes it’s difficult because there is a system, and you do have to work within it. Not everyone fits in a system.”

The decentralized structure at Michigan further contributes to the problem, Schandevel said.

“You have all these different departments and schools and departments within departments that handle very specific resources,” she said. “Bringing these resources together on paper is useful, because I don’t know what communication looks like between these offices and departments.

“Students can identify where they might be able to access a resource right off the bat,” she went on, “instead of being able to hunt for it on different websites.”

It’s a model they hope will be reproduced at other institutions. Already, the University of Texas at Austin has created its own version.

“We get them here by offering them free tuition, but once they’re here, they are left floundering,” said Schandevel, one of the guide’s creators. “I would love to see a whole network of students across the country writing about their experiences and helping one another locate resources and get access to the help they need.”