For a few days in the past month, students in the Gulf Coast region were all in a similar situation. None were thinking about registering for classes or buying books. Most concentrated on evacuating the area, staying safe, and taking care of their basic needs for food, water, and shelter.
But after the initial shock of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath wore off, the differences between richer and poorer students began to re-emerge. Despite many generous offers of free tuition and other donations from colleges around the country and the world, students displaced by the hurricane who came from affluent backgrounds had much more flexibility in continuing their educations than those with fewer financial resources.