<p>Actually in my state if you're low income you're taking on
debt because you don't have much choice. The higher
level states are not accessible financially. As for the notion
that low income students are getting something of a free
ride - a familar refrain on CC - it nonsense. Most low income
families are paying a huge percentage of their income towards
college - income they actually need for living.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Gadad: Your daughters are lucky. My kid who pays full freight, works on campus watches kids like yours on financial aid - getting a ton of stuff that she can't afford.
[/quote]
^^ DocT</p>
<p>All kids who have a full ride have to do a work/study. Gadad's daughters are working right alongside yours.</p>
<p>I don't believe that is the case where our kids go.</p>
<p>Of course my kids will have student loans! It's part of our family's FA package. They've known this since middle school. (They also know cars are not part of our EFC.) No way I'm putting out $$$ without them having some skin in the game. S1 is taking out Staffords, working 10 hours a week during the school year and FT during the summer. </p>
<p>$19k in Staffords is ~$200/mo. after graduation -- it's enough to pinch, but not enough to keep one from getting started in life.</p>
<p>^^^it's funny thinking of myself as low income these days and thinking in terms of daughter taking away time from college to help out with family finances is a leap I'm not ready to make....in Ca by an earlier poster's demograhic info, we'd have a median income. Is anyone getting that the median household income of $50K or so is now considered LOW income? Oh, and btw, my husband is a teacher too sevmom...And, my brother is an MDPhD and a professor at Yale, <em>both</em> of my parents went to law school, grandfather was a judge and DA and I have a grandmother and a <em>great-grandmother</em> who went to med school - so yeah, college is a given in my family as well.</p>
<p>DocT...work/study is part of the federal package - everyone who gets aid from the feds has it.</p>
<p>Hi,MattsMom, Thanks for thinking of me. Teaching is a great field. My mother-in -law taught for many years and brother-in-law is a professor but husband is an engineer, not a teacher.</p>
<p>"DocT...work/study is part of the federal package - everyone who gets aid from the feds has it." - What Gadad is talking about isn't federal aid, its financial aid directly from the university - so those rules do not apply.</p>
<p>^^^I'm not so sure...my son's aid is coming directly from the school, but he still has the work/study requirement, and his package from Pomona was actually superior to the one from Yale or Harvard. They both definitely required work/study.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My concern is why should he have to come out of UVa with about 15,000 unsubsidized Stafford loan debt just becaue his parents have about 100.000 gross income and others do not?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Going to UVA is completely optional. He does not "have" to do anything. He, and your family, chose this.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Why does he not come out of UVa on an even level? Why should my son have to repay loans that others do not have to? We are a classic family with too much to get aid but still do not feel rich by any means.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>He doesn't come out on an "even level" because he did not go in on one. He has to repay these loans because he chose a school that required them.</p>
<p>You are not a "classic family" in Virginia. In 2006, the median family income in Virginia was approx 66K.</p>
<p>My family is in a similar position to yours. For me, it puts my life in perspective to look at what the median family income is, to look at the income levels that do qualify for aid.</p>
<p>I am almost positive that Harvard doesn't require work study at least from what I understand from other students. Perhaps Gadad can shed further light. My kid certainly doesn't get money thrown at her to study overseas either.</p>
<p>Pugmadkate, I understand your point and am thankful to have the income we have. We do not live lavishly, mortgage below what we could have qualified for, old cars,etc. However, I still feel my point is valid. Those in the middle are having a tough time with tuition. Many schools are addressing this(Harvard,etc). Many more can do a better job.</p>
<p>Yale's package:</p>
<p>Grants $46,050
Federal Work-Study $2,500
Parental Contribution $0
Student Summer Work Contribution $1,200
Student Savings** 25%
Student Loan $0
Total $49,750</p>
<p>Pomona's package:</p>
<p>Grants $48,745
Federal Work-Study $1,600
Parental Contribution $0
Student Summer Work Contribution $0
Student Savings $0
Student Loan $0
Total $50,345</p>
<p>Not necessarily the same as Harvard.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My point. A private school kid/parent is making choices. Obviously you are willing or able to take on more debt for various reasons-prestige,curriculum,location,legacy,etc.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Kids/parents do the same with public schools. UVA costs 21K for tuition, fees, room and board. ODU is 14K. I have friends whose daughter is attending UVa as an OOS student and it's 40K. ODU would be 25K.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Not necessarily the same as Harvard.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I can't find Harvard's. I'll be curious to see what gadad says. As for study abroad, there are a bunch of top schools that cover it under normal tuition - maybe Harvard is just odd that way.</p>
<p>
[quote]
We do not live lavishly, mortgage below what we could have qualified for, old cars,etc. However, I still feel my point is valid. Those in the middle are having a tough time with tuition. Many schools are addressing this(Harvard,etc). Many more can do a better job...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I did not say you lived lavishly or anything else about how you live. I simply provided the data that shows that you are not, in fact, "average" in Virginia. Most Ameircans spend most of their time with people in similar income brackets. It's very easy to feel that you are the norm when, in fact, you're quite a bit above it or to even feel below it. </p>
<p>Harvard's endowment is 20+ billion dollars. UVa is a state school. I don't think that the state should be subsidizing students whose parents make 20K above the median income. Including my kid. We got married young, my husband is an active duty military member and it's going to financially hurt to put my kid through school. But we can make this choice. I'd rather that money go towards pulling another family into the upper middle class (we're not middle-middle) than subsidizing my family.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Hi,MattsMom, Thanks for thinking of me. Teaching is a great field. My mother-in -law taught for many years and brother-in-law is a professor but husband is an engineer, not a teacher.
[/quote]
^^sevmom</p>
<p>lol, my answer was to the post you later deleted that suggested low income parents should be more concerned with their kids taking a break to help with the family finances than in taking time away for 4 years to go to college. You mentioned your husband's family's education as reason given as to why college was a given for your kids. I was just pointing out that I come from a similar background, although my husband is a teacher like you, so we have "low" income. I do find it exceedingly ironic that the high median income of $50K (I am sure it is much lower in states outside of CA, VA and FL) is now considered low income.</p>
<p>Pugmadkate,I am not suggesting the state subsidize my child. My kid works hard for what he has accomplished-he has worked summers doing manual labor(janitor,surveying,etc) and has been expected to contibute to his education. I have never suggested he/we are due any special favors. I think it is wonderful that you are so secure in your finances that you do not feel the pinch that many do. Please let us know when you are ready to start subsidizing another kid since you seem happy to do so. I can give you some names. We are in a city public school. The basketball captain at my younger son's high school just got shot to death a few days ago . The community is doing a fundraiser on Tuesday to help the mom bury him.</p>