<p>ucb, correct me I am misinterpreting your posts, but it does not seem that you can acknowledge that for the middle class, college costs take a larger bite of the earners’ take-home pay than ever. For us in that $75K-$125K AGI region (OK, let’s call that leaning towards upper middle class, of course dependent upon locale), our FAFSA yields too high an EFC to be considered for need-based aid. And I have reconciled with that, really.</p>
<p>Where I have had a problem for years–and have been excoriated on this forum for stating it–is that because of this growing anomaly, where salaries have NOT risen even close to the rate of college tuition increases, most private institutions & many OOS publics were simply out of reach cost-wise for my D’s, without doing serious, insane damage to family finances. </p>
<p>I could see this right off the bat when D1 was applying all over the US in 2004, and in the ensuing eight years, that disparity has widened. Maybe there’s been a leveling off in the last year as some high-cost, low-return privates are facing falling enrollment. I guess the light bulb must’ve gone off there.</p>
<p>We zigged & zagged with our savings, took loans, and in the end both D’s have gotten fine educations at OOS publics. We had choices at least. I think they’ll both be employable, so I have no axe to grind in that regard. But the question still begs…why is the family at this income level in a sense penalized by having to pay full freight at most institutions, and 80-90% at the high-octane privates?</p>
<p>Truly what is happening here is a microcosm of the debate in Congress currently.</p>