Just curious, but why is a parents income and overall financial status factored into what a college or the Federal govt will “give” an 18-19 year old adult? My son gets nothing beyond the academic scholarships because I am deemed to make too much each year. They are adults and should be treated as such regardless of a parents wealth. Vent over 
When you are ready to have your tax dollars go to subsidize (even more than they are now) the children of millionaires and billionaires who are sitting next to your child in college- since all of these 18 year olds are now eligible for federal assistance to attend- give the rest of us a call.
Vent over.
I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand this mindset.
OP, the system is not the problem. If that’s the way you feel, then you will have to muster up the courage to have the “You are an adult and as such will have to look after yourself” talk with your child. Lots of millionaires and billionaires plan to leave little or nothing of their fortunes to their kids. You won’t be the first.
You don’t have to pay anything for them. On the other hand, neither do I (as a taxpayer).
So, I guess you won’t be giving your son any financial assistance for college?
The federal government gives Pell grants and work study awards to students who cannot afford to go to college without help, not to students whose parents prefer not to pay. Students with parents of all incomes qualify for federal loans, which will take some of the burden of of you.
You are correct in the fact that your son is an adult. You can choose not to pay for him to go to college. But do not expect the rest of us tax payers to make up the difference.
If he qualifies for academic scholarships,there are many good schools that should be affordable. Look at the stickies that list guaranteed merit scholarships. If he’s already a senior and you did not look at financial factors earlier, that might mean that he will have to take a gap year between high school and college.
Mscharg1…are you the student or the parent. Some of your posts sound like you are the student (the ones where you say “I was accepted”). Others sound like the parent.
Are you sharing this account?
Parents are first in line when it comes to paying for college. As noted above, low income students are eligible for the Pell Grant. All students can take the $5500 Direct Loan as freshmen.
If you don’t want to be included at all on your undergrad student’s FAFSA form, he could wait until age 24 to start college.
Also, past posts indicate you have a daughter in college now (the parent sounding posts). If that is the case, why is this subject just coming up now?
@Mscharg1
Because then virtually all 18 year olds would need full aid, right? Where is ALL THAT money supposed to come from?
Are you willing to have your taxes hiked up A LOT MORE for the rest of your life to subsidize EVERY college students’ tuition, room, board, books etc? (instead of paying a few years while your child is in school)
Do you realize that if all the 18-23 year olds were suddenly funded for tuition, room, board, books, fees, etc…how much money that would take??
And why would schools be motivated to keep costs down? And why would any student choose a cheaper school? Why not then only go to pricey privates…all on tax-payers’ dimes.
You do realize that 90%+ of universities do NOT have anywhere near enough money to fund everyone. Right?
Like in Europe where uni is free but they pay over 50% in taxes? I bet you’re not willing to do that.
And…in a number of European countries who gets to go to a uni is more strictly controlled.
Because we’re smart enough to know that an educated workforce is a benefit to the whole society, there’s a small amount of help available for who can’t otherwise pay. The PELL grant is about enough to cover tuition at a community college. The current administration has suggested extending this community college benefit to everyone. Should that happen, you’d get your wish!
You’re right. What collateral and income does he have for that student loan?
I agree with OP in many ways, but if you are going to treat them as adults, it has to go all the way. You’d no longer have the tax benefits of this person (no longer a child) and he’d have to live independently (with his 20 friends who are also ‘independent’ and can’t afford to live alone). The government might give a little in aid like it does now, Pell grant and small loans, but that won’t be enough to go away to college. We’d have a lot of really poor 18 year olds.
Some people buy their kids a house, car, pay for a wedding, if they can afford it. I think a college education would be a good investment so that they can get a job to pay for these things themselves. Yes it should go by income and assets of the parents to see if the student has need. Though I do not agree with the calculation of how much parents can pay (EFC).
In Germany only a certain amount of careers require attending university, most are attained through apprenticeship and vocational school. Also only the students qualified by graduating from a college prep school, and in some fields a certain gpa, can attend. And only tuition is free, students have to find an apartment and pay for housing and food and transportation, although aid is available for low-income students.
Most students therefore go to college to attain a specific degree and not for the “college experience”.
Interesting. So just ask all 18-year-old “adult” to pay for their college education and 99% of them cannot afford college.
I think we actually should switch to a model similar to what we have for K-12 education. Free public education for everyone, because we want everyone in society to be educated. You wouldn’t get your choice of schools - similar to the current system, you would apply and be selected based on grades and test scores and special aptitudes - and anyone who has the money and wants to attend a private school is free to do so, just like K-12.
The student is not the customer of the universities, and the education/degree is not the product. Instead, the community is the customer, and research and educated adults are the products. The students are simply the raw materials the universities use to create their products.
Not just in education, but in every facet of life: if you think you’re getting something free or nearly so, you’re not the customer, you’re the product.
@FCCDAD
K-12 education is expensive enough, but it’s still cheaper than college. College tuition is higher…AND then there’s room board and books. Who is supposed to pay for THAT??
Are you suggesting that we provide tuition housing and MEALS to all college kids? We don’t even do that for K-12
and god forbid the teachers union gets ahold of colleges. Our colleges are the best in the world…for a reason.
Realistically, I don’t believe that most parents would really cut off their children at 18 the way the OP kind of implies. Even if you (the hypothetical ‘you’ as a parent) aren’t giving them cash, you might be helping them with a place to stay, a car that you gave them for their 16th birthday, letting them stay on your insurance, taking them out to eat once in a while, etc. You may have helped them get their credit scores established when they were younger, helped them find their first job, put them in private schools, gave them nice clothes, paid for tutoring when they were in school, and all of the other things that parents with a decent amount of money can do.
Even if you don’t necessarily do any of these, the fact that you could itself means a lot.
These are all advantages that kids who grew up in poverty may never get to enjoy before or after turning 18.
I doubt any of that would happen. What is more likely is that colleges would simply ratchet back financial aid across the board. If we think about it, the whole notion that the service provider is responsible for making sure that the customer can afford their product is pretty much limited to higher ed in this country. You wouldn’t walk into a car dealership and expect the car salesman to make sure that every car costs only what you personally feel like paying or even how much you can afford. Financial aid in any form – need, merit, whatever – is partly a gift and partly an obligation that a school takes on as part of their mission. If it starts costing them more than they can afford it’ll just go away. And no, the taxpayers aren’t going to chip in the difference. Taxpayers apparently don’t even want to pay their own tuition bills, much less pay for everyone in the country to go to college.
^
Ha!
right now, most kids commute from home to save money. MOST KIDS. If we suddenly had free college that would mean also free room and board.