<p>ghost quote: *I didnt say ALL schools lost money. *</p>
<p>Well, you kind of did. But, you may have just been generalizing.</p>
<p>ghost quote: *Well, all sports are money drains. *</p>
<p>The real issue I was raising had to do with the disparity on how scholarships and financial aid are handed out. I am the first person to say that nobody has an entitlement to any money, but only that if they hand it out (in whatever form) they should hand it out evenly. I favor some level of racial and economic diversity in college admissions, but increasingly we are seeing the white middle class being squeezed to death with fewer and fewer discretionary dollars available to them. **When someone with 10% Hispanic blood can get a full ride with a mediocre SAT score and a white kid with a STELLAR SAT score (1350) can’t get any scholarship money **and is left to navigate the treacherous waters of FAFSA its simply wrong.</p>
<p>I absolutely AGREE with that. At our parish there are 3 kids with a small amount of Cuban blood (and they don’t look the least bit Hispanic, nor do they have a Hispanic last name) yet they got free rides to Vandy. That is just ridiculous. The point of these special considerations is to correct the injustices that a person might get due to his/her “appearance” (of being a URM). Obviously, someone who belongs to a family that has no appearance of being a URM does not experience such discriminations.</p>
<p>My adopted niece is 1/4 black; she looks just like her Italian siblings (not adopted). She has an Italian last name. My brother jokes that she’ll get a free ride somewhere, even tho she has never experienced any discrimination at all. </p>
<p>On the other hand, one of my other brothers’ children are half-Asian. Those nieces and nephews may experience some discrimination, yet they will get no special status (they joke that they get raised eyebrows when people first meet them, because they, too, have Italian last names. lol). </p>
<p>I think URM special consideration should be “means tested.” I live in a very upscale neighborhood that is 1/3 to 1/4 black. The families are very affluent (every adutl is either a high tech person or a high ranking military officer - I have 2 army generals on my street). Should these kids be given free rides over a child from a poor family (black, white, asian, etc)? I don’t think so. Special status should only go to low-income kids - regardless of color.</p>
<p>I also agree that the middle/upper middle class kids get shafted. Everyday on CC we get kids whose families are in that $60k-100k range who can’t afford the schools many of the schools on their lists. They hope for “aid,” but then are shocked to get FA packages that are loaded with loans and/or gaps.</p>
<p>However, the biggest problem is the ranking system which people seem to treat like it’s everything. The ranking system encourages colleges to hire “Enrollment managers” to get the best smart and diverse group of incoming freshmen in hopes of moving up in the rankings.</p>