Difficulties Transgender People Face in Accessing Higher Education: My Personal Experience
By: Ken H. Washburn
Tags: Transgender, Nonbinary, Applying To College, Scholarship, Transgender Rights

It’s a fact of life that people who have been discriminated against — people who are continually oppressed, have myriad roadblocks to opportunities and institutions that others barely have to think about. Throughout history, some of these oppressions have been mitigated or, more realistically, chipped away at by those seeking to create change for the less-privileged. Affirmative action comes to mind, though it is seemingly always still under attack by some enraged group or another. Scholarships have been and remain a way for underrepresented and underprivileged groups to gain access to colleges and universities, though problems may remain for oppressed students beyond the financial realm. I believe that there are a few roadblocks for trans students attempting to gain access to higher education: financial and that of mental health. I cannot speak to what it is like to be a black or a disabled student seeking entry to a university. I can only speak to my own experience- that of being a transgender, non-binary person in the year 2020.

I first applied to university at age 17, as a false girl. My time in college was marred by extreme, debilitating depression and anxiety, and I ended up leaving halfway through my junior year. My true self was so suppressed by the cisgender binary culture we live in that it took me nine more years to come out, to both myself and to the world. Suddenly, things I had always taken for granted prompted huge fear and doubt. Simple decisions that I had made countless times were now a landmine of confusion. In a world where there are still only two options, what box should I check? Who do I lie to about who I really am? Can I get fired for this? Even now, the government thinks that my name has an F next to it. Job interviews have been fraught when previously I excelled — I even worked for two years undercover at a grocery store, listening to my coworkers say that transgender people were disgusting, day in and day out. My confidence in applying for jobs and interviewing was effectively destroyed by doubt: will they understand, will they take it seriously? At a recent interview I asked if a department I’d be working in was “trans-friendly,” and my interviewers (two men in their 60s) gave each other a potent look. I declined the position. At another job, I became embroiled in a fight with the HR department about why they shouldn’t take away access to the store’s only gender neutral restroom. I have been misgendered at work constantly, which despite being extremely damaging to the psyche remains a trendy joke for most of the population.

I grew up, unlike many people in this country, with a certain amount of financial privilege. The initial years I spent in college were paid for by my family, and when I came out as trans to them, I was not disowned. A financial burden that thousands of teenage transgender prospective students face is that they receive no financial support from their parents after coming out as their true selves. It’s difficult to support oneself in the USA during one of the most difficult economic periods of the last 50 years, LGBT+ status notwithstanding. While I was not disowned or kicked out of my home, as a 30 year-old non-binary person without a college degree, I barely make enough money to pay rent. My parents support me emotionally, but for my second time around in college, the burden of my tuition is on me. My story is not special or unique to trans people, and I feel empowered knowing that I might not have to bear the full weight of college debt for the rest of my life. Scholarships and financial aid exist to help people like me, and people only like me in that they too, need help. It’s hard to be transgender, but there are resources available, and the world is hopefully getting a little kinder every day.

(If you’re transgender, reading this, and interested in a scholarship that could help you access higher education, be sure to check out the Transgender First scholarship here: https://www.onlinedegree.com/transgender-first-scholarship/ )