Interviews were conducted with faculty members from Universities(names are protected) and the following questions were asked:

1.) How have educational opportunities changed since you were in school? Would you say there are more or else?

2.) Are there any major differences between opportunities that were available to you then compared to now?

3.) Do you believe that poverty or socioeconomic statues can influence or effect the number of educational opportunities?

The important thing to remember is that, at one point, all of these faculty members were students at one point and that they all attended high school and college at different periods in time which influence their perspectives.

For question 1, there were consistent answers and agreement that the opportunities have changed. However the opinions varied on the amount, some believed there were more educational opportunities and others said less. Professor K from an unspecified university stated that while he was a college student in the 90’s, there we less options but the ability for students to forge their own paths.

In regard to question 2, there faculty members mixed in opinions. Professor D from another University stated that while attending college in the 1970s, he believes that the size of the University places a role in the opportunities available to the students. He attending a University where there were at least 50,000 students enrolled and internships were simply unheard of. It was not until he came to teach at a smaller university and found that students were able to take on internships maybe even multiple.

The third question responses were all similar and the faculty all stated that poverty socioeconomic status can impact the number of educational opportunities. One of the faculty members works in the Multicultural affairs office at his University and believes that it directly affects the educational opportunities that are available. He notes that minority students are more likely to be impoverished and receive less information about their educational options. The faculty member also stated that first generation students lack the guidance and knowledge of opportunities available to them such as tutoring or scholarship information.