<p>Yeah. Well at least people in the middle class can afford to go to a college. (Even if it’s your state school… and not your number one choice.)</p>
<p>People like me can’t really afford to go to college… not even really my state school. I’m relying on getting the full Pell Grant and the LIFE Scholarship… That’ll still leave me having to pay $10k per year… so I’m going to need some heavy financial aid and/or take out $10k per year in loans… attending my state school. My parents only make $25k a year. We really can’t afford college and when you’re in South Carolina, the community college system just sucks.</p>
<p>Life isn’t fair… but I’m not mad because all of my bestfriends can go to really expensive universities and their parents pay for everything. Their parents have money and that’s fine. It’s their money and they should get to do whatever they want with it. It sucks that my parents aren’t wealthy, but I’m not gonna gripe about it. I’m just going to do the best I can and go to my state school and try to get the best grades I can and graduate on time.</p>
<p>And if money is a factor in your college education, then you should re-evaluate your first choice school. There might be another school that you can afford that will meet your needs just as well.</p>
<p>
And that’s total BS. My father’s a lawyer. Do you know how many pro bono cases he’s had? Do you know how much time he has given back to “society”? And what about those people who have minimum wage jobs working at McDonalds? Yeah. A lot of times they don’t want to work there, but someone has to do it. To say that someone who makes little money doesn’t contribute to society is just complete BS and you need to think a little more about what contributing to society really is.</p>
<p>Well, the original post seemed quite socially charged, rather than just asking for help.</p>
<p>You could apply to schools where you are above average to get merit aid or go to one of your state universities. There’s also the option of taking out loans, but that requires a very person choice based on where you’re going, how much the loans are, if you’re also going to grad school, what your major is, what your prospects for repaying the loans are, and such. Personally, I don’t think the difference between a state flagship university (possibly in a smaller honors program) and a so-called “Top 25” school is worth $200,000 in debt, but that’s your choice to make.</p>
<p>What state do you live in? Actually, you don’t have to share that if you don’t want to, but you should look into the options at your public universities. A lot have really good programs, and good placement for grad school or jobs.</p>
<p>AUGirl, something doesn’t add up. Your dad is a lawyer, and your parents only make 25k a year?.. Sounds like he’s doing it wrong.</p>
<p>And oh no! You have to take out 10k in loans a year because your parents can’t afford college? Welcome to the real world. Prices don’t change based on your annual income. Don’t ***** about taking out loans. That is your trade off. You grew up in a low income household, and you will get help paying for college because of it.</p>
<p>I live in a middle class home with two siblings. My parents make enough money that I won’t get need based aid, but don’t make enough to pay for college. I will be taking out at least 15k a year in loans, and it would be more if not for a generous academic scholarship.</p>
<p>My point is, you will get some assistance because your poor. Being poor does not disqualify people from going to college anymore. Bottom line is, you have to pay for some of it. Sorry, but you have to invest in your future.</p>
<p>Why do you guys make it sound as if need-based scholarships pay for everything. A student with great financial need, even with a scholarship that would pay for lets say… part of tuition and room & board would still have to think about books, supplies, and living expenses.</p>
<p>^ Why are you trying to make it sound like need based aid doesn’t cover enough? It covers something, more than middle class people will get, and you have to pay for the rest. So what? It’s an investment in that person’s future and they should have to pay for some of it.</p>
Yes, more than middle class people, with their higher salaries, better living conditions, and bigger savings will get. Do you know how few universities meet full need? Do you know that most poor people can’t even go to college, let alone those universities?</p>
<p>Do you honestly believe poor people are better off than the middle class?</p>
<p>^^ Exactly, most people who need need based aid will almost never get all of it. Again, add in the cost of living expenses, books, and supplies. It is not very likely that low income families will have much saved, and since these costs are the same for everyone regardless of income… fill in the blanks.</p>
<p>I am trying to pull up statistics, but I can’t find the exact website right now.</p>
<p>I can understand the OP’s frustration, but since I am not middle-class, I can’t really relate. However, I just want to address:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not true.</p>
<p>Also, I guess people would just have to search harder for merit scholarships. Also, I BELIEVE there are some schools/scholarships that consider families with income >$100,000 to be “needy” ? </p>
<p>Please, just don’t assume that the poorer people have it way easier.</p>
<p>Why do you expect them to meet full need? If you don’t get enough aid to go to a school, reevaluate your choice of school. It’s like someone making $50k a year complaining that a nice car (cba to find an example) costs $50k. Find a school in the range of your ability to pay/ take out loans.</p>
<p>And I never said being poor is fun, I wouldn’t trade classes just to be debt-free leaving college. But my point is that the middle class is ignored, although they probably have the same ability to pay for college as some poor people.</p>
Why do you expect them to give aid to middle class families?</p>
<p>
I seem to recall a group of colleges (including Harvard) overhauling their financial aid to cover families making up to $200,000/year, where even families making $120,000/year only have to pay 10% of their income.</p>
<p>If a middle class family has the same amount to spend on college as a poor family, either the middle class family is doing something very wrong or the poor family is doing something very right. It isn’t the norm, not even close.</p>
<p>Sigh, I’m not going to argue with you any more. I’ll leave the thread and you can continue being a communist, suggesting we remove the rich from society.</p>
<p>Okay, you were careful enough to say “some” poor people instead of just saying poor people. If the line between poor and middle class is drawn at $60,000 and a family making $58,000 is eligible to receive need based aid while a family making $60,500 is not, then I’ll agree that that’s not fair.</p>
Actually, my last post didn’t mention that at all. Not going to respond to the fact that there are top universities that DON’T overlook the middle class? Or support your spurious claim that middle class families have as much ability to pay as poor families?</p>
<p>Latina, actually there is a cutoff like that for TAP grants in NYS. For a family with dependents, they cutoff is somewhere around $70,000, and it is a strict cutoff. A friend of mine was denied a TAP grant because he makes $35,000 a year (he’s in his mid twenties) working fulltime. The cutoff for the grant was $10,000 and the lady he spoke with told him that even if he made $10,001 he would not be eligible. </p>
<p>There are top universities that take middle class families into account, but they are few and far between. And a middle class family, which understandably has a higher standard of living than a poor family, often doesn’t have leftover income to pay for college. I know my parents don’t have a college savings account, and we don’t live extravagantly, and I will still not get any help paying for college.</p>