<p>I don't think Oxy wants middle class white kids. At our high school, the kids who have gotten merit aid are all minorities. Year after year kids apply with good statistics and are turned down for money even if there is need if they are white.</p>
<p>Mimi:</p>
<p>Probably a minor point, but the Census Bureau and IRS show mean income of ~$43k. But, more importantly, the top 5% income bracket is $154,120, which, I would suggest, is not a whole lot of money if you live in a high cost state where a small ranch house is upwards of $500k. Interestingly, the top 20% income bracket starts at $86,860 (again, Census Bureau), which is about where the EFC caculator starts to reduce need (ignoring special circumstances). </p>
<p>Not sure what to make of all this...thoughts anyone?</p>
<p>That small ranch house is a ready source of liquid capital for borrowing. It is simply a fixed form of forced savings. </p>
<p>The $43k household likely does not own a house, and has NO savings. Any top 5%er wanna trade?</p>
<p>Emerald - Late answer but you might want to get a hold of the US News & World Reports 2005 Ultimate College Directory, a HUGE book that does a very good job of breaking down exactly how financial aid and merit money is divided up at various schools. It not only breaks down financial aid packages by grants, loans, work study, and merit but tells you the percentage of students who receive each. It also provides useful information about average loan amounts of graduating students as well as numbers about what percentage of students apply for financial aid and how many actually get it. Really useful information that should be helpful to you in working with students at the high school.</p>
<p>Mini - One thing you probably should keep in mind is that very, very few recipients of Pell Grants actually attend 4 year private schools - only 13.9% of all PEll Grant recipients in 2003 (last available data year) attended 4 year private schools --- and there are literally several thousand private 4 year schools in the US. Therefore, I'm not sure it's absoultely correct to simply assume anything about the number of Pell Grant recipients in elite colleges. I suspect that there are probably more traditional "middle class" students receiving financial aid at elite schools than you estimate for this reason. If you ever come across figures or a source for Pell grants at elite schools, could you let me know? </p>
<p>Just in case you are interested, I've posted this link before on Pell Grant recipients:
<a href="http://www.ed.gov/finaid/prof/resources/data/pell0203.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.ed.gov/finaid/prof/resources/data/pell0203.pdf</a></p>
<p>thanks carolyn that info will be really helpful.
The parents at this school are also interested in helping parents of juniors figure out how they can afford college and knowing how much aid is available should make it easier.
Although some of the students I have talked to don't want ANY loans. I have been helping them apply for outside scholarships but those are so competitive I will be thrilled if they get even a small one.</p>