NPCs and "outside scholarships" question

Families are first in line to pay for college. Why should schools penalize students from low income families because some parents refuse to pay? It’s the parents who are being unfair, not the colleges. It’s too bad your parents did that to you, but this thread shows that in most cases the rules are the same for everyone. Families have to pay their EFC. Kids from families who won’t are in the same position as those whose families can’t. Neither will be able to attend that college.

It sounds like there are different types of outside scholarships. Some are for tuition but others can be for indirect expenses. I don’t really understand why student income is assessed at 20% when it’s over a certain amount but scholarships they earn are assessed at 100%. Student income reduces need too, but colleges only require a certain percentage of it. Why are scholarships that cover indirect expenses treated differently?

@twoinanddone You’re always free to turn down any FA that you don’t think you should be receiving. Personally, I love the fact that my son’s school cares enough about its students to meet 100% of need. Im happy that they aren’t looking to fill their school with all rich kids with 75k of disposable income per year. I love that it’s their intention that money not stand in the way of them getting excellent students. And I’m thrilled that they have the endowment to do so. But to each his own. You can always leave the money on the table.

Y’know, it’s not fair that a kid with bad teeth whose parents refuse to pay for orthodonture is going to go through adulthood with an overbite (until he or she can pay for it him or herself). So what’s the solution?

Given how varied each and every family’s situation is, I think the need based financial aid system tries to do what it’s designed for. It is not designed to compensate a kid from an affluent family going through a messy divorce, where nobody has thought about college at all and nobody wants to pay. It is not designed to help families whose wealth is tied up in a closely held business or investment real estate, where selling off some of the assets reduces the income generating portion of the family’s resources. And yes- on occasion, a kid whose parents have modest earning jobs and no monetary assets but with a Picasso hanging in the dining room and a few Cartier bracelets in the vault (which could quickly be sold for cash to finance college) is going to get need based aid-- because the formulas don’t ask about Picasso’s and Art Deco bracelets when they ask about assets.

It’s an algorithm. Covers most situations but not all.

If the school packaged work study but no loan then I would have them replace the work study with a subsidized loan because that might be more valuable. The loan will reduce the bill due in the fall, the work study won’t because it hasn’t been earned yet and is not guaranteed because getting a work study job and getting the hours to get the full award is not guaranteed.

Then the student can still borrow more in an unsubsidized loan if needed. And get a summer job to help with books and supplies. And get a campus student job that isn’t classified as work study.