Sentence Outlines A sentence outline is developed in the same way as a topic outline, but the ideas are more fully stated. Each heading is expressed as a complete sentence, usually, but not always, consisting of just one main clause: Thesis: Though many students from middle-income families must struggle to meet college costs, low-income students suffer even more because of the ways in which colleges and federal agencies distribute aid, advertise it, analyze students' needs, and "package" the aid provided. I. College costs often exceed what middle-income families can comfortably afford. II.
But low-income students face greater obstacles to higher education than middle-income students do. A. Federal programs now work to the disadvantage of low- income students. 1. With funding for grants "disproportionately lower" than funding for loans, fear of heavy debt makes low-income students unwilling to borrow. 2. The half-cost rule hurts low-income students more than it helps middle-income students. 3. Besides cutbacks in federal aid to education, cutbacks and restrictions in other federal programs also penalize low-income students. B. Colleges are generally neglecting low-income students. . Better-off students are squeezing out low-income students even at public and community colleges. 2. Competing for students from middle-income families, some colleges are granting aid to students who don't truly need it. 3. The gap between the cost of college and the value of aid--including aid from the college itself-- forces low-income students into overdemanding combinations of work and study. III. Without spending substantially more, colleges and federal agencies can and should give low-income students a better chance. A. The federal government should eliminate the half-cost ule in the distribution of Pell Grants. B. The Department of Education should advertise its aid programs more effectively. C. Colleges and federal agencies alike should analyze every student's needs more rigorously. D. They should also increase the value of grants in packages of aid designed for low-income students. IV. Conclusion: All of these steps can help to insure that truly needy students get the educational opportunities they deserve. A full-sentence outline allows you to see exactly where you are headed from the beginning of the paper to the end. As an rdered structure of assertions that work together to support the thesis, this kind of outline plainly defines the writer's argumentative strategy. Note these criteria of a sentence outline: - Each heading is a complete, single sentence, not two or three. - Each sentence is in the form of a statement, not a question. - All the sentences are in the same tense. Back to on-line resource file Back to RWC home Last updated Monday, 01-March-99 02:41:00 EDT. All pages Copyright © 1998 Hunter College Reading/Writing Center. Please contact WebMaster with any questions or comments.