<p>Just noticed this article, perhaps rather apropos in this college admissions cycle, seems Williams try hard at the front end but then have occasionally dropped the ball later on. Not a good reflection on the college and financial aid throughout the elite colleges, but you would think Williams could do better. Best run those fin aid calculators before applying!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/102056583">http://www.cnbc.com/id/102056583</a></p>
<p>I found this article to be disingenuous and misleading. I agree that the middle class is unfairly squeezed in America and I wish that every high achieving student could have the benefit of a Williams-style education, but in this specific case I don’t see that Williams dropped any balls or moved any goal posts.</p>
<p>Williams doesn’t give merit money – to African American football players or to White piccolo players. This family received their financial package in April which clearly spelled out their financial obligations. Although they couldn’t afford to send their son to Williams, they proceeded to send their son to Williams anyway, hoping that something would change down the road. Clearly they received some bad advice along the way, but from whom?</p>
<p>The article begs many questions: Did someone at Williams (in admissions, in financial aid, in athletics) lead the family to believe that more money would be forthcoming? Did any of other need-only schools on the student’s acceptance list provide better packages? Did Grinnell or other merit schools come through with affordable options? Why is the University of Illinois at $35K considered a much better deal than Williams at $42?</p>
<p>And what’s with Kappa League? Are they really so clueless on how financial aid really works?</p>
<p>This student could have had many other choices, good choices. I can’t see that it’s Williams fault that the family made a foolish or naive decision. The $42,300 tuition bill didn’t just appear “a month into the school year.” The award letter was in place for 6 months. The family chose to ignore it or wish it away by magical thinking.</p>
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<p>To be transparent this question should have read:
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<p>@Englishman Did you read the whole article? I am a bit dumbfounded as to why someone would enroll at any school when he knew that his bill of $42,300 for the first year was NOT affordable.</p>
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<p>There was no ball to drop later on. The student and his family were very aware of the cost in April before the beginning of Freshman year. They could not afford to pay the bill for the first year. So, where exactly did they think the EXTRA money would come from? </p>
<p>@BLUEPH, with respect I don’t disagree with your point, I merely highlighted the article for all, I make no contentions, but I do agree it’s rather strange and somewhat befuddling that a family would make such a decision, dont you agree?.</p>
<p>Again it would appear that an early discussion with financial aid and with full disclosure perhaps the college could have done more…? I don’t know, I only raise the article for those not aware of it…</p>
<p>Really a stretch to call an annual income of $175,000 middle class.</p>
<p>I do wish they would stop using the phrase “if you get into Williams, you can afford to come to Williams” which is simply not true. A given family’s ability to afford their EFC depends on their personal expenses. Clearly this family cannot afford Williams. They’ve made choices or have life circumstances which make it unaffordable. The college did make that clear in their package. I just don’t understand parents sending him off knowing they couldn’t pay the bill. Or that he could enroll in classes without his bill being at least substantially paid. </p>
<p>Why is daddy helping his adult daughters? Why did they ignore the FA letters? I spoke to Williams about DDs FA package several times. I believe I also emailed them. They were always very helpful & always answered all of my questions. Even when there were items I didn’t understand. So no, I don’t think Williams is to blame here. There was full disclosure from day one. </p>
<p>It looks like the family ignored the FA letter. I wonder what the other FA packages looked like.</p>
<p>Long discussion the day the article came out. </p>
<p><a href=“Middle-Class Squeeze: Is an Elite Education Worth $170,000 in Debt? - Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1691745-middle-class-squeeze-is-an-elite-education-worth-170-000-in-debt-p1.html</a></p>
<p>@musicmerit,</p>
<p>Thanks for the link. Yes, a very long discussion. The same sentiments as this thread. </p>
<p>One poster mentioned that first gen parents are at a disadvantage, and yes, this is true but that’s why picking up the phone and calling the FA office is of paramount importance. </p>
<p>Someone asked why doesn’t The Gates Foundation pay for his education? Because his family has an income on $175,000. There are kids whose parents are making 30,000/year, scraping to make ends meet and don’t have the extra income to toss at adult daughters.</p>
<p>Enabling much?</p>
<p>Wrong time for family to suddenly be aware what they have to pay for son to go to Williams. They cannot afford Williams for their son. Yes, the kid loves it there. He’d love a Mercedes, a grand tour of the world, a shopping spree, all of these things. He’d love a high paying job on a platter when he graduates too. We all want these things. But why should he get them? It doesn’t come easy. His parents are not stupid people in terms of finance and business. They had just hoped that the money would come, that Williams, once he was there would not let him leave because his parents won’t pay. That Williams would come up with the money from somewhere. I’m sure it was a huge slap in the face and reality check, when instead the fin aid officer suggested he transfer.</p>
<p>Yes, he’s there for a reason, a number of them. And one of them is that the school assumes his parents will pay what it takes to keep him there, according to a formula used for everyone at that school. </p>
<p>Wow. Heart breaking for him. As a kid, can you really blame him? He had all the adults in his life telling him that it was going to work. </p>
<p>I don’t know. $42 K EFC when the family income is $175 K and 6 kids at home is a lot. I wonder if the family has other assets that Williams assumed could be used? In any event, if the family had better FA offers from comparable colleges, why did they not show these to Willams FA and try to negotiate more aid? </p>
<p>Exactly. Maybe if they had picked up the phone and called each FA office, they could have learned a thing or two. Mom is home during the day from what I gather from the article, she had plenty of time to makes those calls. I myself, called one school at least 6 times. </p>
<p>The article is unclear about specifics. What does ‘helping out’ mean? Do the adult daughters and grandkids live with the family? Do the daughters have some kind of jobs, just not decent-paying? What about the 4th child who is also older than David? Independent, or not? </p>
<p>It is possible that David is the only dependent claimed on taxes, in which case the grant from Williams is actually generous.</p>
<p>It is not clear that the parents and son need to borrow ALL that money, though the author presents it that way, probably as a way to garner more attention. It’s likely they can pay part, and need to borrow part.</p>
<p>It must be that the ability to play football was an important part of final decision, though that is obscured in the article. Could be there was a better financial offer out there with no football. Or even a better offer with football (Grinnell?)</p>
<p>The idea of using UIUC as a financially attractive alternative is laughable. Though $28,000 difference over 4 years is not insignificant, it may not be enough of a reduction in price to pay easily. In states with flagship COA in low $20Ks, that is a natural alternative for upper middle class families. Illinois is not one of those states. </p>
<p>Football complicates matters, but the easy thing to do would have been to forget football and apply to Alabama and secure the full tuition scholarship or apply to some other school with large guaranteed merit. A bit of research would have revealed some D3 LACs that would let him play football and give generous merit. He could still have the personal attention, though not the rank. Too bad someone in the family wasn’t on CC or other forum or reading books about paying for college. The atmosphere surrounding college application process encourages magical thinking about money. One has to have a lot of financial savvy and strong will to resist it.</p>
<p>Football is time-consuming. David probably can’t manage a part-time job to help pay, at least during the school year.</p>
<p>I went back and re-read the article. This young man is the first to go to college so it is not beyond comprehension that the parents didn’t know how to work with the FA office. </p>
<p>I agree with the post which stated that not all the expense needs to be covered with debt. </p>
<p>The family was not that well served by counselors.</p>
<p>The silver lining here is that the parents will become savvy quick and next year they will list all the extenuating circumstances on their CSS forms, and thereby get much better financial aid.</p>
<p>Sound like the young man is still thriving academically and socially though which is good.</p>
<p>I’m curious if he is still enrolled. There must come a point where the bill must be paid, no? My daughter had a friend who had to take two breaks in her time at Williams because of finances. The aid is generous but the EFC still has to get paid.</p>
<p>I’m curious to know the upshot of this article. Did the student get blowback from the college for going to the press? Did Williams cough up enough to make it workable? </p>
<p>PS, thanks @musicmerit for posting the link to the other thread. If I had read that first I could have saved myself some aggravation. :)</p>
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<p>@Englishman I do agree.</p>
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<p>It may not be beyond comprehension, but if I received a BILL for $42,300 for my child’s first year’s tuition, I am not going to allow my child to show up at college and then try and figure out how to pay the bill. This, I believe, is incomprehensible for a man making $175,000:</p>
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