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Increasing tuition costs are largely held to be at fault for rising levels of debt. However, the cause of rising tuition is subject to debate. Some believe that public subsidies have encouraged colleges to avail themselves of the “free money” and jack up tuition prices. Others say it is the competition among institutions to build the most expensive and cutting-edge amenities on campus.

The questions around reparations to descendants of slaves in America often trigger strident conversations. These discussions lay bare how race continues to affect the nation - despite the unfounded protestations by Americans that race holds little relevance to their lives. The "coded racial appeals" that Ian Haney Lopez has written in his informative book, "Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism & Wrecked The Middle Class," is must reading for all Americans and provides a foundation for how racism endures and evolves.  

As 2016 Republican frontrunners continue to dismiss the wage gap as a speculative topic, a new study published on Tuesday further proves just how real the rift is for people of color.

African-American and Latino cashiers, salespeople and first-line managers are paid less, are less likely to be promoted off the floor and more likely to be poorer than their white counterparts in the retail industry, a new study showed Tuesday.

The study, done by the NAACP and Demos, a public policy organization, found that in the major jobs held by retail workers, African-Americans are paid the least, followed by Hispanics. They also are less likely to get full-time jobs instead of part-time and are underrepresented in management positions.

When it comes to U.S. retail workers, a new study finds there's a significant wage gap.

According to public policy organization Demos and the NAACP, black and Latino workers are paid less than their white counterparts. (Video via Voice of America)

Black and Latino Retail Workers Are More Likely to be Underemployed and Underpaid

“The striking persistence of racial inequities in employment is present in the retail industry and beyond, but these norms do not have to continue.”

The May jobs report from the Department of Labor is out, and while 280,000 jobs were added to the economy, 43% of all job gains were in the low wage sector. 

The overall unemployment rate is 5.5%, and the rate for African Americans and Latinos is still higher than the rate for whites, coming in at 10.2% and 6.7% respectively. The unemployment rate for whites is currently 4.7%.