<p>People continue to say “it is not NYU’s fault”, but the argument made by the NYT is that the financial aid offices of institutions like NYU know better than any applicant and their family of what he or she should expect after graduation in terms of student debt. If NYU is fully aware that some graduating students are potentially facing monthly loan payments of $1500+/month, and that most students will have no realistic means of paying for that even with an above average salary, I think they should have a responsibility to sit down with the applicant to discuss the financial implications of his or her decision. </p>
<p>Obviously, in a perfect world, NYU financial aid offices would be able to award enough grants and scholarships to those with financial need so that no student would ever be faced with such a massive debt load. But as many have already pointed out, NYU financial aid is stingy at best. If you are not going to award adequate financial aid to those with financial need, then you should not parade yourself as “need blind” and be honest enough to inform students how much debt they will need to take out over four years and what the average monthly payment will look like six months out of graduation.</p>
<p>Blaming the vast majority of students for being dumb about taking out debt for college is synonymous to blaming sub-prime borrowers for the housing bubble. Yes, they share a part of the blame, but when the people who are “selling” you on the romanticized idea of college and telling you that educational debt is good debt and provide you with no fair warnings about what is to come ahead, then chances are you will listen to them and not think twice about it before it is too late. All anything the sub-prime borrowers wanted was the chance to have a piece of the “American Dream.” All anything the student borrowers want is the chance to be part of the glamorous, educated elite. Both groups acted on the raw emotion of what they were/are doing over any ounce of sound investment decision-making. Very eerily similar, if you ask me.</p>
<p>One thing that people don’t realy talk about here are all the students who are taking on debt because they do not qualify for financial aid. Many have parents whose EFC is high and therefore they do not recieve any financial aid (not just from NYU, but from most schools–and certainly all the Ivies.)</p>
<p>The student who has taken on $50,000/ year in debt sounds like someone who might not have gotten any financial aid, and perhaps it is because of his parent’s EFC. Remember, just becasue the system has determined that your parents can afford to pay for school, doesn’t mean that they can or will. That is an inherent flaw in the system. A child’s need is tied to their parent’s income /savings, but a child has no control over it.</p>
<p>Of course, this again comes down to the issue of who takes responsibility for this problem. Clearly there are cheaper options than paying full price for NYU. So again, this comes down to bad decisions made by parents and students. If a student’s EFC is higher than the cost of NYU, are people going to blame NYU for not giving aid? The Ivies wouldn’t either, even though they meet full need!</p>
<p>So in my opinion, it is a complex issue and not just a matter of whether NYU gives good financial aid or meets a student’s full need based on EFC.</p>
<p>I agree with both the assessments from jassy12 and uskoolfish, but knowing and having experience with NYU, this is a business. They are in the game to get students, tuition dollars and they do not care where it comes from. Just from being on cc for the past 2 years, and reading the posts from many a prospective student, If NYU doesn’t want you, they will offer very little aid to low EFC students, seems it is a way they weed out those who may not qualify for any outside loans and whose parents probably won’t qualify for a ParentPlus loan. So I’m not sure how “needs blind,” they are. </p>
<p>I also agree that it is a complex issue, but it has got to stop somewhere. I wish college recruiters and college fairs were required to give full disclosure and financial aid education should start in elementary school, because there are so many mixed messages being sent out to parents, students given by people who should know better.
NYU FA is not going to get all warm and fuzzy with their potential pool of students but their should be some collective responsibility to at least minimize the amount of debt a student should morally and ethically accrue.
At least the government has put limits on what they will lend to student.
They really should focus on their students and not on their ridiculous expansion.</p>
<p>“Target clothes are just as good as Louis Vuitton clothes.” That simply IS NOT true. I just don’t understand why you’d make such a horrible metaphor. Obviously they are not. Everyone applies to NYU knowing what they are getting into financial aid wise, and they have the right to that choice. They are not naive, they fully understand it and going to a low tier school would be a horrible choice in comparison. The degree from NYU will help tremendously in the job market, as will the connections, etc. It’s certainly not ideal to have this amount of debt or advisable, but calm down. </p>
<p>I’m certainly not justifying this student’s choice, but look, he doesn’t represent all of NYU’s student body.</p>
<p>Wow! My son is graduating from HS in 2014 and we’ve limited his choices to in-state universities and we’ve made it clear that his college endeavor will be an “all hands on deck” journey. He’s not thrilled about it but he’ll appreciate it later! </p>
<p>1) He will work and contribute (I don’t care if it’s $1000 per year!)
2) We’re applying for every scholarship that is possibly available - every little bit helps!
3) We did save for him but unfortunately you have to live so it won’t cover all expenses
4) We’re prepared to make the necessary sacrifices so we can pay his tuition without him having to incur any debt. </p>
<p>I understand education is important and colleges get away with the “you can’t put a price on it” saga for consumerism purposes but there is a huge price to pay if you’re going to be straddled with debt for the next few decades. I don’t even know how one can appropriately save for retirement - let alone purchase a home and start a family with all this student loan debt. </p>