<p>.* He owes about $40K in loans due to Perkins and Staffords, and it is one rough go for him to make the payments.*</p>
<p>Did he take out additional money with Stafford because his family was denied a PLUS loan?
Generally maximum Staffords would result in about $25,000-$28,000 worth of loans at graduation?
Additionally, with Perkins and Stafford loans you have an opportunity to have your loan forgiven if you spend time in a job that benefits the community.</p>
<p>*And he is one of the elite in his neighborhood and family, having a college education. *</p>
<p>As 70% of the people in this country DO NOT have a college degree, he IS one of the elite.</p>
<p>Dang 0_o these threads move fast, I go to sleep and go to school and come back and it’s been blown up! lol</p>
<p>I understand what everyone’s been saying against my argument and I’m sorry if I stepped on a lot of toes. I wasn’t in the best mindset last night after trying to find ways to help out a very good friend of mine afford her dream school without absurd debt. Even her alternative options are costly, and it upsets me to see her crushed by a reality she didn’t expect do to institutions false words. It aggravated me further because I’ve got above and beyond a free ride at multiple great schools when my aspirations weren’t even as high. She’s pushed for every scholarship she could find and with the nature these private school packages, they will hardly help her. Yes, I am grateful for my assistance and the aid that they have given her, but I wish they would have been straight up about these discrepancies from the beginning. She passed up a free ride to a local small university/community college because she was mislead by these institutions into thinking that the prices would be reasonable, and she had to wait for her acceptances and packages, which forced her to pass the acceptance date of that scholarship. I know her family well, and know that they aren’t rolling in the money. They’re great people who have worked very hard for what they got and help out their family a lot, and obviously can’t afford the price imposed on them. Even with the amount they have saved for her schooling, she will be in incredible debt after four years if she decides to pursue her dream.</p>
<p>I’m even more upset because I know this happens to several kids while I get through scott free. Not only is it unfair, but it’s demeaning to me. I don’t want to be seen as a charity case who’s not expected to take on debt for my education like everyone else.</p>
<p>This scenario is probably in the minority, but that doesn’t make it right. Although it’s not going to change, I wish these schools were called out for this more. It was rough finding out that they weren’t as noble as myself and everyone I know was led to believe. They fooled us, and now some kids are screwed.</p>
<p>Why should I get to purse my dream education without hardships why they have to resort to lowering their aspirations that they’ve worked for and do loopdy loops trying to acquire and afford a degree that from an institution that’ll make med school a virtual impossibility? These kids can’t always easily afford AP tests and concurrent enrollment to help get ahead. Heck, this particular friend would have been severely out of luck even applying to these schools had it not been for a TRIO program giving her fee waivers. </p>
<p>It’s very superficial to assume that a family with higher income on paper is living easy. Every situation’s different. My friend can’t afford a better lifestyle than I do due to circumstances not reported on the CSS, although our incomes are more than 60k apart.</p>
<p>Oh, yes, kids can owe close to $70-80 at graduation all by their lonesome. You got the $26K in Staffords and the max Perkins comes to $22K. Bear in mind that a lot of the Staffords are not subsidized, so they accrue interest at nearly 7% as soon as the funds are released. Then they can get even more unsub Stafford each year if parents are turned down for PLUS. Also some schools give out their own loans as well. Cornell an example.</p>
<p>Really? You’re going to act like that? Sorry, but I’m not stupid, I wouldn’t let pride ruin my life like you suggest with that snide little comment of yours. </p>
<p>Do I believe it’s wrong? Yes. But would declining that money help these kids I’m referring to? No, it would fatten faculty wallets while leaving me 240k in debt (which is also probably an impossible amount of money to get I might add, private loan companies aren’t stupid either), which would be a very stupid reason to give up college btw :)</p>
<p>Perkins are subsidized as are part of the Staffords. But when you start taking the amounts over what are offered without parental PLUS denial, those amounts are not subsidized, and the meter starts ticking once the money is release at about 7% interest. That’s $6K unsub for freshman year accruing about $400 in interest times 3 years which is an additonal $1200 in interest just for first year unsub disbursement. Most kids wait those extra 6 months they have before making that first payment and the meters are all ticking by then. Do the math and you’ll see that it’s deadly.</p>
<p>tipa891…Your support for your friend is admirable, but if their financial situation is anywhere near what you described then they made a very poor choice in bypassing the full-ride scholarship. Too many families buy into the myth that you cannot get a excellent education at smaller local universities and that they/their child must attend their “dream school” in order to succeed in life. It just isn’t true. If your friend’s family bought the line that these “dream schools” were selling and passed up an opportunity for a debt-free undergraduate EDUCATION for what they should’ve known was a remote possibility for a supposed better EXPERIENCE…they have no one to blame but themselves. Caveat emptor.</p>
<p>Perhaps your friend should consider taking a gap year and reapplying to the local smaller university next year. If she is offered a similar package…take it, do well, and start her adult life without the burden of UNNECESSARY debt.</p>
<p>Your friend should have kept the old “bird in hand” adage in mind. You accept awards and can decline when a better one comes along. So one does with many things in life.</p>
Um, the aid money students don’t accept doesn’t go to the faculty instead. It doesn’t add credence to your argument that you think schools should raid the faculty pay to give student MORE aid. Your friend who has to take loans should be able to get through debt free on the backs of the faculty?</p>
<p>There are plenty of colleges - including those that are well known, that make the tuition free for parents under a certain amount (middle class) and sliding scale above that. Unfortunately, it has also caused their application rates to rise astronomically.</p>
<p>Here’s the deal - the money in a college grant doesn’t come out of thin air. It comes from parent donations, alumni donations, corporate sponsorships and other sources. It’s a gift, not a divine right. So complaining that the grant was not high enough is the same as saying “someone else” should make a sacrifice to pay for your child to go to school.</p>
<p>“Meeting” 100% of need does not mean providing a scholarship. It often means providing some aid and filling the balance with loans.</p>
<p>Some students go to community college for several years and transfer. Others choose lesser known (but still good) schools where the tuition is manageable. Still others defer in order to work and earn money (least attractive option given low pay rates at jobs for the unskilled).</p>
<p>Those are the options - and research into any of the colleges beforehand would have revealed the typical expected net cost after scholarships and student loans are deducted. For many students, you’d be surprised at how high that figure is even for low income families.</p>
<p>It’s unfair, very unfair to that segment of students whose parents can’t or won’t pay but those parents have the financials so that the students do not qualify for financial aid. Even the most generous schools will not cover costs for such kids. What they have to do is look for schools that will give a full ride or close to it or live at home and commute. Sometimes in such families, however, the home life is not a good one with stresses and issues. Also finding those full rides is still like buying lottery tickets. They are becoming increasingly scarcer too, and for an 18 year who is new to all of this to understand what has to be done to get that ride is overwhelming. It usually takes a year to get that reality check as we are seeing with some posts here where kids are getting into schools they wanted, and finding out that they are not entitled to any aid, and their parents can’t come up with the money either. When you live in a middle/upper middle class home and the final word is that you can’t afford your state flagship because the parents have absolutely zero that they can or will contribute, that’s when the realization hits that North East Hamadouda State that gives out some free rides is where you have to start looking.</p>
<p>^Southwest Hamadouda State is a much better school. It’s ranked 2 spots higher in the USNWR rankings and the Fighting Fluffy Bunny football team kicks butt!!</p>
<p>Why do you think poor students get free education? </p>
<p>There is a maximum of PELL grant students can get no matter how poor they are. This forces the poor student to take on the loans, work and pay on those loans for many years after they graduate. </p>
<p>Poor students dont receive free education. Free education doesnt exist.</p>
<p>Because some do, 021234. I know some who do. They can get PELL and here in NY , TAP and if they commute and go to a local school, it is possible not to pay out of pocket.</p>
<p>It is also possible to get an award that is full ride with little or no payments needed from schools that guarantee to meet full need. Some schools have a no loan policy for anyone or for those below a certain income or other bracket. So, yes, there are some who do get a free education, and some them do meet the definition of poor. Free education does exist.</p>
<p>My chief complaint of the EFC is they way they treat IRAs. Any contribution you make is added back in. You can shelter your retirement money from taxes but not from your college. </p>
<p>Twenty years ago most people wouldnt think about using their retirement money to pay for college. Now I think almost everyone does it. This makes me sad must stop typing.</p>
<p>All I know is that I qualified for maximum PELL and still didnt cover all the cost in VA. Someone else I know that lives in VA also qualifies for maximum grant and chose cheaper school but still has to pay for all books, any summer classes and might take on a loan when they transfer for a BA. </p>
<p>Then I know someone else leaves in FL and her parents paid for one year of her college and kids daycare, next year she applied for financial aid and grants cover the rest. </p>
<p>So yeah I guess she gets a free ride… But why did she get a free ride? Because her parents are wealthy enough to pay for half! </p>
<p>The OP wants to say that FA isnt fair to upper middle… How is this fair to low income? </p>
<p>My main point is that FA for poor students does not always equal free education. A lot of times it equals the student owing large amounts of money in loans and their parents cant afford to spend a dime on the students education.</p>
<p>I only hope that people that make 100k or more a year are wise enough to budget. </p>
<p>I would feel like I won the lottery if I made 100k a year.</p>