The upper middle class get the short stick when it comes to college for their kids. They don’t qualify for aid and can’t afford the full COA. Top privates are full of full pay and no pay students. The upper middle class kids end up in the honors programs of their state flagship university.
As the COA continues to go up there are fewer and fewer able to pay the full COA so universities recruit rich international students to fill the spots and pay to keep the lights on.
Can we stop promoting the idea that low income families have it better than “donut hole” families, please? Most low income students don’t attend residential college. They commute, and many of them start at community colleges.
My post was in reference to the COA at top 20 universities. Of course low income families have it difficult.
The problem with the cost of higher education is real for students who work hard and hope to attend a top university. It hits the upper middle class the hardest. The COA often force these kids to their 3rd or 5th choice.
With regards to attending elite universities the low income families greatest challenge is they are often at an academic disadvantage. They don’t have access to the Georgetown Preps, Holton Arms, or TJ academic magnet schools. Their high schools don’t get them jobs on the Capitol or at NIH. They don’t have 3 years of SAT prep and needs blind or not the top privates know which high schools the full pay kids are coming from. The cards are stacked against them with gaining acceptance to the elite privates. But, if they can get in the COA does not prohibit them from attending their dream school.
@bud123, I agree that just getting accepted to top universities is extremely difficult for low income students. Therefore, I have to disagree that the cost of higher education hits upper middle class students the hardest. If they can’t afford a top 20, they can likely go to a top 50 or a top 100 residential college. It’s not a tragedy to have to settle for their 3rd, or even 5th, choice. The point is that they have a choice. Some low income students find finances to be a barrier to any kind of advanced education. There’s no such thing as a “dream school” for them. A school is the dream.
I grew up in a low income household (Mom never made over 20K per year in entire childhood working at least 2 jobs). My kids are/have grown up in a household starting to approach a “donut hole” income. I have seen both sides of this tale and I would chose the higher income every time, because the barriers facing students in lower income households receiving the education necessary to reach a top 20 school is overwhelming. We should probably look at the inflationary pressures that are connected to higher education costs and stop “hating” on kids who have overcome immense odds to get to schools like Georgetown.
@ChangeTheGame Yes, yes, and yes! You explained all my thoughts perfectly. Consequently of what you mentioned, only about 10% of the student population at elite universities are first-generation students.
My son had to turn down USC because the $160k we had saved for him wouldn’t even get him half way. They advertise a lot of merit scholarships, but many are nominal. He took a merit scholarship and is happy at UMiami.
My daughter had to turn down Cornell engineering, which was sad, but she is at Virginia Tech, which is a happy place. I have no worries about her; the rankings are so close for engineering, she already has internship offers in her first semester.
I worry about my son’s first job; he is math/econ/ data analytics, which sounds great, but he is having trouble nailing down an internship at a financial firm or sports related internship, even with a 4.0 and taking graduate level classes at as a junior. We have no strings to pull, none of the “connections” that are supposed to come along with our upper middle income, at least not in HIS field. I felt like he “deserved “ a better school, but he only wanted a certain type of school - big D1 football/basketball school in an urban setting, no farther north than VA and skipping the whole middle of the country. Honestly ? Once he has his first job, I will relax. In the meantime, the only one “missing out” on anything is me, when Moms of younger kids ask where my kids go. I DO notice that they say “Oh” instead of “GOOD SCHOOL!”
But I laugh to (at?) myself, because having been thru the process, I have had to let my own dreams (and ego) go. I won’t be watching the regatta on the Charles river, or sitting in the stands in a sweater and scarf pretending to care about Ivy League football. My kids are happy, and I’m sure they will be fine.
The thing is, we paid for preschool. We only had half day kindergarten. I didn’t work because my youngest is a full-time job. Her medical expenses are astronomical, with our lovely High Deductible plan. So we thought we were doing pretty well, had saved more than a quarter of a million dollars for the two really smart kids…we thought that with that AND merit, they would have their choice. It DOES stink that we pay -a lot- for things that politicians are falling over themselves to promise other people for free, and then the schools do the same.
I grew up very poor too, like so poor that I grew an inch when I got to college on a meal plan…and I was one of only two of 9 sibs to get a scholarship and get out of there. I have seen the struggles of my less gifted siblings to work their way thru college, sometimes not getting a degree until their 30s. I understand. It just seems like, at some point, there is NO point to trying to save money. I feel like we should have taken more and better vacations when my kids were little. But I do agree, poor is not better. My kids don’t eat eggs 6 nights a week. A whole chicken is one meal and a lunch for Dad, not dinner for 11. No one has to feel like a bad person because they had a growth spurt right after they got new sneakers, or wear jeans that are 3” too short or a hand-me-down blazer to graduation from a much larger brother. Being poor sucks.
The problem with Georgetown is it’s not “super” high endowment, which limits financial aid. However, they are striving for better aid programs and opportunities for the middle class.
Chase merit. Lots of colleges in the top 100 and many in the top 50 offer merit. Hover over your kids. Have them study for standardized tests over the summer. 20-30 minutes a day…leaves plenty of time for a summer job. Research research research schools that offer merit. Mine was offered significant merit at Oberlin, Grinnell, St Olaf, Kenyon, Mt Holyoke (full tuition), Smith, Case Western and Macalester. All great schools. Your upper middle class kiddo has such a miniscule chance of getting into a top 10 school anyway. A great education can be had at many schools.
Just wanted to add to what @Veryapparent said, that you have much better financial opportunities if you look outside the northeast.
We are no longer looking at Georgetown. Simply can’t afford it. Too bad. Nice school.
@chb088 You are in the same boat as so many people. We didn’t even look at private schools without generous merit. No way we would spend that kind of money and no reason to either.