Dans cet article, tu pourras découvrir une manière de développer, de parler en anglais à propos des top universités anglaises et américaines, ainsi que de la politique démocrate à l’égard de « l’Ivy league colleges and affirmative actions » que l’on peut traduire par « le top des universités et les discriminations positives ». Les mots inscrits en gras sont particulièrement importants ! Bonne lecture !
The Ivy league is an expression that regroups the top American colleges like Stanford, Harvard, or MIT. In the UK, we can also talk about Oxbridge which is a portmanteau word composed of Oxford and Cambridge, this word was coined to refer to Oxford and Cambridge.
1/ Higher education in the UK/USA
In the UK and in the USA, higher education is not free, but very expensive. Indeed, we must pay expensive tuition fees. The problem is that it creates a gap between rich and working classes and the latter can’t afford to pay.
The Ivy League colleges and Oxbridge are said to be exclusive and only for upper class people. But we can debunk this cliché because they are different solutions for lower and middle classes to attend/get into top colleges – for example, with a scholarship if you are eligible, or thanks to a loan. With a loan, the problem is to pay it back. As a matter of fact, 3 out of ten people can’t pay back and if 40% of student loans are not paid back, the financial system may collapse.
The point of Harvard commercials is to show that it’s an inclusive college. No matter if you are poor or rich, or whatever your social background is, you may apply for it. In other words, the school wants to give a good public image and show they believe in meritocracy – a fundamental value in a democracy. It means that someone gets what he deserves.
2/ Biden and affirmative actions
Biden (the president in office/ the current US president/ the incumbent president) implements policies such as “Affirmative Action” which has for goal to subsidize poor student tuition fees.
In fact, USA are said to be a land of opportunities, so Biden wants to bridge the gap between students who are rich or poor. The “Affirmative Action” represents the creation of free curriculum in Americans colleges, to allow student to go study for free. This “Affirmative Action” will benefit 2M students who have low incomes. This law allows poor students to receive a scholarship which allows them to pay 100% of tuition fees.
The first affirmative actions were in 1960s, after the story of Rosa Park who didn’t want to sit at the back of the bus. The policy which can be implemented by Biden creates a bone of contention between Republicans (who disagree with that), and Democrats.
In fact, according to Republicans, affirmative actions could be racist, because you are not colour blind if you implement quotas for some parts of the population.
3/ A bone of contention with GOP
In fact, the law from the democrat party has created a bone of contention with the GOP (grand old party), because the latter’s think that if there is a thing that becomes free, it’s thanks to American taxpayers. Republicans say also that 25 states have already a free program in their colleges, so they blame Biden for not being innovative with his program.
Moreover, higher education represents a lot of difficulties for poor students who can’t afford to pay tuition fees which are expensive in the UK. They have trouble getting into colleges.
However, there are 3 ways of getting a college. First, you can pass the test (SAT/ACT), Second, you can give a donation to a part of the college (it’s legal) or finally you can give a bribe to the school, of 2.5M$ such as Kushner who is Trump’s son-in-law.
» Golden wrote a 2016 story after Trump won the presidency, about his book and specifically a legal $2.5 million donation that Charles Kushner pledged to Harvard in 1998. It wasn’t long after, according to Golden, that his son was accepted to the prestigious school. « USA Today
Lire plus : l’article d’USA today, dont l’extrait si dessus provient
Finally, you could say that meritocracy is a myth invented by the elite who want to make poor people believe that they have a chance to access to Ivy league colleges. It’s a utopia. But you need to be careful when you give an opinion like this!!
