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If everyone in the top 5% of American families in financial terms gave up the jobs and investments that enabled them to have those salaries, it follows logically that America’s standing in the global economy would fall and there would be no more people to provide financial aid. I’m afraid I don’t see your logic.</p>
<p>While you are right that the families I spoke of in my original post do rank statistically in the highest percentiles of American earners, I feel that a different standard often needs to be applied when we are talking about college admissions. First of all, the majority of Americans who send their children to college and are willing and able to contribute anything (even the cost of in-state tuition) to that education have above average financial pictures. So the lowest percentile of elite college applicants are probably going to have finances that rank slightly above the “average” American. Second, many applicants/acceptees at the elite schools come from areas with the highest COL in the nation. $250k income is actually quite average in many parts of the NY metro region, for example. True, those families are making a choice to live there. But being a teacher, nurse, what have you, that earns less money than, say, an attorney, is also a choice. Each of these choices may have very valid underlying reasons. What troubles me is that the “system” seems to reward one of those choices more than the other. I really do value the sacrifices of those who take public service type jobs that pay far less than what they could command in the private sector, so I’m not sure that I disagree with the way the system works, but it frustrates me nonetheless.</p>
<p>I think the bigger issue here is a systemic failure in the way that we fund private universities in America. Maybe the problem is the concept of a private university in and of itself. But hardly anyone seems happy with the way things work right now. The uber-wealthy (I’m talking families with seven-figure annual incomes) may not mind shelling out $50k+ a year, and maybe there are a few very low-income students who hit the jackpot with an HYP acceptance and fabulous non-loan financial aid that they didn’t have to negotiate too hard for who are satisfied with the way the process works, but the rest of us certainly aren’t, regardless of where we come from, where we or our children attend school, or how much money we have. I don’t have all the answers. It certainly doesn’t seem that our politicians or college presidents have many answers at all. I just hope we can work together to avoid the crisis that I fear is looming.</p>