<p>Most low income kids don’t go to state flagships for free. A Pell Grant isn’t going to make up what is needed for room and board and tuition. We are considered middle income, my husband is self-employed and I work two jobs. My D gets a small Pell Grant, a small state grant and a trustee scholarship. She will have Stafford loans for all four years, and we have significant Parent Plus loans. She works as a T.A. and also interviewed for and received a volunteer position in her area of interest. </p>
<p>I think everyone who is not independently wealthy struggles with college costs.</p>
<p>We had to do the whole “write it out” thing too. It definitely put the numbers into perspective.
We also gave our son the option of us taking funds out of our retirement to send him to his “dream school”, with the understanding that we would live with him the rest of his life and he would support us. He decided that there was not a college on earth that required that kind of sacrifice. I am still not sure if he thought it was us that was sacrificing our retirement, or him sacrificing by supporting us the rest of our lives!</p>
<p>I think some of the state schools tuition for low income is state specific. Some states cover more than other for instate students. However, it generally does not include room and board, so the student lives at home, or on their own. This is a hardship for students that do not have a family that supports their education, or a student with transport problems.</p>
<p>Hahaha, love it! My usual reply to over-the-top expensive requests was, “Well, I suppose we can eat cat food for a few years if you really want it badly.” Somehow, that took the dazzle out of them too.</p>
<p>Three of my kids have graduated and two have already paid off their loans. another one will have his loans paid off by June of this year. I would never tell a kid not to attend their dream school because of some debt. By the way of the two that have their loans paid off one graduated in May of 2010 and the others graduated in May of 2011. If the difference of attending a dream school does not cost more than $30,000 in loans for the kids than it really is doable.</p>
<p>momma-three, there is no guarantee a grad will get a job right out of the gate that will pay enough to pay off the loans that quickly. I am pleased my D did not borrow, because the job she has barely pays the bills … and she graduated magna cum laude from a Top 20 school. Your kids are lucky. MANY are not so much.</p>
<p>momma-three- I agree that some debt is acceptable to attend your dream school. For some, the $30,000 is fine. For my son to attend his dream school, it would have been closer to $250,000 total for 4 years. And the program he wanted to go into was known for taking many an extra year to complete. Plus, he wants to go to grad school. We do have some money put away for college, but it did not grow like expected. We actually lost money in one of the accounts! If we ONLY needed to add $30,000 for hiom to attend his “dream school”, that would have been more palatable. </p>
<p>So cost, merit offers, and potential loans played a big factor in decision making. It had to!</p>
<p>Btw, voce, I am a low income student that works 3 jobs. Your son is struggling to find one job and yet still manages to make it through. I wouldn’t be able to afford my education if I wasn’t working 2-3 jobs at a time (oh, and only one of them is work study and it’s the one that pays the least and I get the fewest hours at). Do you have any idea how difficult it is to work that much and still go to school full time? Luckily, your child doesn’t have to. And the reason that I was able to obtain those jobs is because I worked throughout most of high school as well (therefore had work history once I got to college). Trust me, that wasn’t fun either. </p>
<p>I’d switch places with your middle class son in a heartbeat.</p>
<p>Most low income kids don’t go to state flagships for free. A Pell Grant isn’t going to make up what is needed for room and board and tuition. We are considered middle income, my husband is self-employed and I work two jobs. My D gets a small Pell Grant, a small state grant and a trustee scholarship. She will have Stafford loans for all four years, and we have significant Parent Plus loans. She works as a T.A. and also interviewed for and received a volunteer position in her area of interest. </p>
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<p>True…which is why “going away to school” is usually a luxury. That’s why most kids commute to a local state college or CC. There just isn’t enough money to pay for R&B…and frankly, taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for housing and feeding other people’s college kids. </p>
<p>That may sound harsh, but there’s a lot of taxpayers that are barely keeping a roof over the heads of their own families and their kids are commuting to the local state school, so providing tax dollars for some other kid’s room and board is not a good idea.</p>
<p>^ Unless you’re at a very cheap CC, even a full Pell isn’t going to cover much more than tuition- no R&B, etc. A full Pell at my state U covers roughly 12 credits (not per semester- total). So unless you’re referring to state funding, most “tax payer money” is going towards tuition.</p>
<p>“My son at U of I doesn’t even qualify for work study and has not been able to work in the 2 years he’s been a student there.” </p>
<p>There are no restaurants near the university? That’s really too bad. If there were, your son could make quite a bit waiting tables, and it feels really good to walk out with a wad of cash in your pocket on Saturday night. And free food is a nice perk!</p>
<p>Really, no restaurants? No kids that need to be tutored? No houses that need to be painted? No driveways that need to be sealed? All of these things can pay quite well.</p>
<p>Come on now. If your son wants a job, then he’ll get a job.</p>
<p>^^Yes, it is rather unusual that he can’t get a job with college food services. While slinging hash for the wealthy dormies maybe embarrassing, it’s a paycheck.</p>
<p>^ Unless you’re at a very cheap CC, even a full Pell isn’t going to cover much more than tuition- no R&B, etc. A full Pell at my state U covers roughly 12 credits (not per semester- total). So unless you’re referring to state funding, most “tax payer money” is going towards tuition.</p>
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<p>Right…I wasn’t talking about just Pell. And I wasn’t even talking about the current gov’t aid offers that are out there in different states.</p>
<p>My point was that there really can’t be an expectation that taxpayers should fund “going away” to school.</p>
<p>At most, tax-payers might be expected to help low-income kids with fed grants, state grants, and loans to pay for tuition, fees, and books.</p>
<p>I’d switch places with your middle class son in a heartbeat.</p>
<p>My apologies to you! You’re right my son is lucky! He loves U of I and has a summer job. He is OCD and can’t handle food service job. He tried and he burned his hand on the job! I know how hard it is to work and go to school because I teach at a commuter college. I see the bleary eyes, the tearful cell phone calls from sick parents, I know how hard it is. </p>
<p>My question to you is this? Would you switch places with me? Would you make that kind of sacrifice for your son or daughter? This kind of stress is killing all of us middle class, working poor and homeless alike!</p>
<p>Here’s a question would you, as a parent, want to switch places with MY parents? Having an intelligent daughter but not able to contribute a cent to her education because both of my parents are disabled? In fact, they have to ask their daughter to help them make ends meet. How would you feel about asking your son to help pay YOUR bills WHILE he is enrolled in school full time?</p>
<p>And YOU didn’t HAVE to send your son to an unaffordable college. Parents say “no” to their children all the time. YOU made the decision, no one else. It’s admirable that you’re helping your son, but those struggles are your choice.</p>
<p>Yes, exactly! Good luck with your life! I have so much respect for you. You are the person I needed to hear from today. It’s always a struggle to make these decisions because now I will have 2 in college at the same time. I guess we all get stuck here on this planet to help each other out in whatever way we can. Your parents must be so proud of you!</p>
<p>Vocemom…This whole situation is so completely unfair! Low income students go to flagship state schools for free </p>
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<p>Where does this happen? in very few states…and not all low income kids can even get into the state flagships.</p>
<p>if all low-income kids got to go to state flagships or other better state schools for free, then why are so many at CCs and commuting to local publics…because they aren’t getting that much aid.</p>
<p>I’m against gov’ts giving too much aid to students because I think it encourages too many to skip over their local schools and go away (in Calif for instance). However, I also don’t like it when state tuition is so high, that a poor student can’t fund it with Pell and a student loan.</p>
<p>I do wish that instead of having the student loan amounts as they are - by year …I wish it was just a total amount…so it could be used for only junior and senior years…since those can be pricey years if you start at a CC first.</p>
<p>For instance…If the total student loan amount were - say - $30k, then a low income student could use Pell to pay for 2 years at a CC and then use $15k loan plus Pell (and other aid) to pay each of the the last 2 years.</p>
<p>So amazing! Evanston is a wonderful town and I will always remember our exchange. You are very persuasive and I need to keep things in perspective! My life is pretty damn good right now, and you are the hero, not me!</p>
<p>I am no one’s hero. I’m nothing special, really. Even compared to my friends, I have it very easy. At least I have parents who love and support me (emotionally, not financially). The only thing that bothers me is when people think poor people get a free ride. Yes, at some of the most selective schools, that happen. At most state schools, it’s a situation more like mine.</p>
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