“Paying for the Party” Book Review Part One: Campus Life Experiences for are Driven by Stratification and Systemic Racism

by Rebeca Bonilla and Dr. Benjamin M. Drury

Paying for the Party — Harvard University Press

Colleges are often perceived as bastions of equality and opportunity in American society. Even abroad, people are raised learning that American college degrees hold endless value and possibility. Upon closer examination, however, people find themselves immersed in a complex landscape of disparities, particularly for students from lower-income backgrounds.

In their insightful 2018 book “Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality,” Elizabeth A. Armstrong and Laura T. Hamilton shed light on how colleges inadvertently perpetuate social and economic inequalities.

Armstrong and Hamilton conducted a study centered on a fictionally named Midwest University (MU). primarily, their goal was to understand the intricate dynamics of class projects and organizational imperatives within colleges.

By categorizing students into distinct paths based on class and gender, colleges inadvertently shape students’ experiences and socioeconomic trajectories long after graduation. What these two…