<p>I feel sad when I read a few financial aid threads. I noticed so many students talked about their non-custodial parents did not provide their tax information or will not contribute any thing toward their kids' college cost. On the other hand, I also feel it is amazing that many of these students are doing great in school.</p>
<p>Yup-- it horrifies me to see parents who won’t support their kids. I was one of them back in the day. Just…don’t get me started!!</p>
<p>I was one too, and it helped me in a way, but it also hurt me. It’s good that there are parents on the forums who take time to answer questions from students. Sometimes, it’s the best resource they have.</p>
<p>All the time. I work with TRIO, so our students are low income. We’re a FAFSA-only school, so the NCP issue doesn’t often come up, but it is still heartbreaking to see kids struggle to pay for college. It is difficult to watch them drop out when finances won’t work. It is difficult to imagine the debt load when they finish. It is most difficult when grades slip, often due to working so many hours. Do you encourage them to continue? If they can’t finish, each extra year is extra debt.</p>
<p>I certainly do. There were no custody issues in my family but my parents simply choose not to be involved, other than providing tax information which is useless because our EFC is too high for need based aid. It has crippled me financially and a year post-college I still don’t really know what the right decision would have been to avoid where I’ve ended up now, I have some thoughts but really don’t know for sure what I’d do differently. It is intriguing that the reaction I’ve always gotten is “well I guess you should have worked harder and gotten scholarships like my golden child” when there is so much sympathy for children who are without financial aid for other reasons, though I certainly don’t begrudge them that sympathy. It is a crappy situation to be in with no real easy answer! Even if a possible course of action seems simple, it usually isn’t. And in this world, it’s not easy to find an alternative route that doesn’t come with a strong stigma that is highly confusing to the 16-18 year olds who are making these decisions without parental help. I think that’s where I went wrong.</p>
<p>I’m a third grade teacher and what really gets me sad to see is how soon these kids have to deal with parents who don’t care or not involved. Already, these students tell me they don’t need to bring their homework home because their parent or parents don’t look at it. For many of them, language is an issue, but many others, their parents are not inclined. If their after school program doesn’t allow time to get the homework completed, the homework is simply not done. </p>
<p>Sure. I feel sorry for these kids. I want to tutor them all so they can read. For those who can already read, I want to buy them shoes…Shoes that are good for their feet, not quasi-fashion knockoffs that are made of plastic and hurt their young, growing bodies.</p>