Poor children in Kenya did have the opportunity to gain admission to secondary schools through merit scholarships, which required that students attained satisfactory scores on entrance examinations. There were indeed opportunities for bright poor children, but merit scholarships were limited in the number of students who could be awarded. In the United States, bright students in vocational tracks can enroll in two-year colleges, but they lack the scholarships and funding of their four-year counterparts. Vocational students negotiate with the burden of scant financial support for college, and poor Kenyan children have the stress of passing entrance examinations even if they have academic ability similar to that of middle-class children or those in college-preparatory tracks.