<p>It's all a bunch of pouting from POIH, because he's just annoyed that his kid isn't guaranteed admission into a tippy-top school. Oh well. That's the breaks. That's life.</p>
<p>Kicharo, I am not sure if you feel a sense if entitlement ... that is, do you feel that your father somehow "owes" you? That he <em>should</em> be working & then giving you that money for college? If that's how you feel, you may wish to reconsider. No one owes you that, even your parents. I know that sounds harsh, but it's true. The sooner you come to terms with the fact that life is what it is, the more time you'll have to find a school you like & can afford. Get over what you can't have & find what will work. You'll end up much happier in the long run if you stop dwelling on what won't be & start looking at what can be. There are plenty of great options out there.</p>
<p>Kicharo, I have not heard of any FA offers being greatly reduced based on parents being "willfully under/un-employed" unless the parent just quit there job and is requesting a professional judgement override based on unemployment. I have attended several schools and received financial aid. None of them ever questioned my husband's unemployment.</p>
<p>It sounds like POIH assumes that parents who work but don't earn much aren't hard-working.</p>
<p>Bosh!</p>
<p>
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The point made in the thread is being lost by attack on POIH. It is not about POIH but about a concept of ‘Need based Financial Aid’.
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</p>
<p>While I agree with OP whole heartly that there are few members who just like to give lectures, as if he/she is better than everyone else. However, on the other hand, I do not have a problem with "need based financial aid". Families like ours benefit tremendously from NBFA.</p>
<p>Is there abuse of the system? Yes. However, you do not have access to the books of the other family, all you have is what you see on surface. I really don't think someone would delibrately work less to avoid paying Ivy school tuition. Because there is no garenttee that their child will get into one.</p>
<p>besides, no all the Ivy schools give good NBFA. Cornell asked us for over 40K a year.</p>
<p>-Legacy students don't get more financial aid
-Ability to pay and admission are unrelated
-Parents making 70,000 a year don't have an EFC of 30,000 -- unless they have considerable assets like savings or second houses.
-People who make more money aren't necessarily bad citizens by any means
-People who are educated at ivy league schools are not obligated to make more money</p>
<p>Part of POIH's problem is that he, through his own hard work, will be financially successful enough to afford his daughter going to HYPS (should she be fortunate enough to get in) at full-pay. Which ... good for him! I think that's fabulous, esp for someone not from this country.</p>
<p>However, instead of just being grateful that he has the money and resources to be able to do this, he's all upset about the financial aid policies and what he perceives as unfairness. Isn't it time to just let it go? If it doesn't concern you since you're full-pay, then what's the problem? </p>
<p>My children will be full-pay wherever they go, due to dh's and my hard work. Woo-hoo for us! I certainly would never sit there and begrudge someone else for getting in and for getting financial aid because I feel the parents "should have" worked harder. What an ugly thing to do.</p>
<p>I resent the OP's implication that those of us who can't pay full price don't work hard, or that those whose families make $60K or less don't work hard. Some fields are more lucrative than others, and not everyone has a burning desire to do nothing but rake in the cash.</p>
<p>POIH's entire case is based on the presumption is that if someone is Ivy League educated, they have the ability and the responsibility to a doctor, a lawyer, an investment banker, etc, and earn enough to be able to pay in full, and thus shouldn't get financial aid if they did not choose this path. </p>
<p>I doubt my Ivy League art degree would take me very far in investment banking.</p>
<p>Imagine what the world would be like if no Ivy League educated people chose to work in the arts, public school teaching, social work, non profits, or other low-paying fields that enrich our life and our society. </p>
<p>My mother has a law degree and a masters in clinical psychology. She works for head start. She makes about 30k a year. Is she shirking her responsibility? Is she a fraud?</p>
<p>There are enough factors that FA officers have to take into account without adding "potential" for earnings. That is something that is so subjective that I doubt anyone would want to touch it. If someone wants to under employ himself and live on less, that is his business. He will suffer the limitations that less money incurs as he will get whatever benefits that may come from his diminished financial situation. It is a risk that he can take if he so pleases. It's a very risky proposition to lower ones standard of living in anticipation of a full ride from a top college.</p>
<p>One thing to add from your local economist passing by this thread...</p>
<p>It is not clear how much money financial aid policies actually cost colleges, and it is certainly not true that a dollar of aid given to one child necessarily reduces aid available for others. The entire financial aid process is perhaps the best example in the history of the world of what economists call price discrimination. Colleges charge different prices to different families based on what they are willing and able to pay. They discover how large that ability is by demanding access to your most private financial data. Then they set a price once they know that information. This approach is the best way possible to maximize the revenue they can get from a set of students. </p>
<p>Is this system entirely cynical? Of course not. Does it allow many low-income and disadvantaged students a benefit? Certainly. Are many students actually subsidized in the process? Probably, but the "annual cost of education" numbers colleges recite are pretty vague and almost certainly overstated. </p>
<p>But the system also allows colleges to set -- and receive -- a list price for tuition that would otherwise be unsustainable. Imagine if schools had to charge just one price to all students who were not really poor. Do you think that price would be $50k per year? </p>
<p>So don't feel bad about seeking a discount, and don't be too harsh on others who do the same even if by some measure they might not "need" it.</p>
<p>This year colleges are faced the an entirely unprecedented application type - land developers, real estate professionals and home builder who have substantial NEGATIVE income due to having to sell homes at a loss to keep cash flow going and keep thier companies alive. I suppose that ranchers and farms have experienced this when market price of product falls below production cost. </p>
<p>How do you figure an EFC on a family that is under water.</p>
<p>If the family can provide justification for adjusting income to the point where EFC=0, then the family will be able to receive aid the way poor folks have been receiving aid for years. That is, they will get a pretty decent amount of grant money, but not enough to cover all the costs. Welcome to the world of regular people.</p>
<p>Also, they would be able to do that for 1 year, but not for all 4 years.</p>