Qualifying for free tuition at HYPSM

Paying for College
21

<p>simplystated1961,</p>

<p>First off I have made no assumptions about your cars or your attendance at local restaurants. My assumption is that, like most of us, your income just barely covers your expenses and your EFC looks like an impossible number. You are looking at lower-income families receiving financial aid and are jealous that you, with your income just barely covering your expenses, will receive less aid. That is my assumption, and your posts on this thread support that assumption.

If that is the case, if it were me I would seriously consider benefiting my children by moving to where they could receive a better education and my family could enjoy a higher standard of living. Unfortunately, where I live (California) the quality of the schools and the relative cost of living go hand-in-hand. Please do not assume that I am telling you to move - I am sure you have excellent reasons for staying in your high-cost-of-living-poor-quality-schools area.</p>

22

<p>simplystated, if this isn’t a personal argument, what is it? What is your aim here? </p>

<p>There is no scheme whatsoever where things are going to be “fair”. It’s a big country. There are huge variations in how people live–and, for that matter, in what’s important to them. Cost of living calculators have their own unfairnesses and assumptions baked in. It’s similarly “unfair” that those tippy-top schools you mention can afford to be far more generous to their students than public schools may be to their own residents.</p>

23

<p>alamemom,</p>

<p>Your assumption is dead wrong. The point I was trying to make which I THINK I did. If median household income is PELL grant worthy then the average household is viewed as poor. Taking the 53k figure and plugging it into a cost of living calculator you will find many equivalent standard of living areas with incomes higher than 53k struggling to survive as well. Many on cc, including you, refuse to recognize this fact as evidenced by your posts. </p>

<p>I just wanted to shed some light on this situation because there is a misunderstanding concerning high COLAs. Making 80k or 90k does not garner the high standard of living perceived by many living in low COLAs.</p>

<p>Brooklyn, NY 90k equivalent to 48k Austin, TX. Both families are lower middle class.</p>

24

<p>

I am relieved to hear that my assumption is dead wrong and that your EFC is not a problem for you. </p>

<p>The facts that I recognize are that most college-bound students, by financial necessity, actually attend their local community or state college rather than the expensive universities typically discussed on cc and that the EFC generated is, at all income levels, almost always a number that feels impossible to the family looking at it. </p>

<p>None of that changes the median income number, which is what the opening post asked about and which is irrelevant in calculating financial aid. It seems your objection is solely to posters mentioning the median income number when discussing financial aid. Posters do so to put bad news in perspective. </p>

<p>Again, median income figures are not used in calculating financial aid, so, as another poster asked, what is your aim? Initially it appeared to be to ask about the median income, but it is now apparent you were, simply stated, looking for a fight.</p>

<p>Again, I am relieved to hear I was wrong about my assumption that your EFC was a difficult number for you.</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

25

<p>Alamemon your post which I copied and pasted.</p>

<p>“My assumption is that, like most of us, your income just barely covers your expenses and your EFC looks like an impossible number. You are looking at lower-income families receiving financial aid and are jealous that you, with your income just barely covering your expenses, will receive less aid.”</p>

<p>I am not JEALOUS of lower income families. My intention as I stated already was to shed some light on higher income families in high COLAs are struggling as well. Many in lower COLAs see an income an assume a high standard of living which is incorrect. I can not state it any clearer.</p>

<p>You should reread your posts as you attacked me. Why would assume I am jealous?</p>

<p>Best of luck to you as well.</p>

26

<p>Again, I am relieved to know that your EFC is no problem for you and you are simply drumming up support for other high-income earners. Commendable. Perhaps you should have mentioned your real intent in the title of this thread and in your opening post as your question there was answered in post #2.</p>

<p>I am sorry that you perceived my sympathy and identification with with those who are stunned by their EFC and wish for more financial aid than for which they qualify as attacking you. I now know that of course that does not apply to you and you have no problem with your own EFC. Congratulations - that is an enviable position in which to be. The rest of us can be jealous of you.</p>

27

<p>This is not about my efc. Why are you making about my efc? I simply did not understand the median income of 53k could be median and poor at the same time. I always felt a 53k income to be poor. I know in high COLA areas you could make an income higher than 53k and find it difficult to make ends meat as well. I think it is important for others to realize that families making around 80k in higher income areas are just surviving as well. </p>

<p>Alamemon your post copied and pasted.</p>

<p>Again, I am relieved to know that your EFC is no problem for you and you are simply drumming up support for other high-income earners.</p>

<p>I now know that of course that does not apply to you and you have no problem with your own EFC. Congratulations - that is an enviable position in which to be. The rest of us can be jealous of you.</p>

<p>What is your obsession with my efc? Where did I complain or mention my efc? I guess no matter how many times I state the same thing you will respond with a comment concerning my efc. Attack all you want. The fact remains a certain standard of living is achieved at many different incomes depending on the cost of living of the area. You can try and obscure this fact by your statement concerning my efc but you will not change the truth of the fact. Smoke and mirrors are just smoke and mirrors.</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Median household income in Brooklyn for 2008-2012 was just over $45k per the last census. Calling 2x the median income for the borough “lower middle class” is just a bit of a stretch.</p>

29

<p>

</p>

<p>You could flip this and say that Pell grants - at least partial ones - go to poor AND middle class families.</p>

30

<p>My mistake on the Brooklyn to Austin comparison. Balitmore, MD to Austin, TX is a fair comparison. There are many such comparisons available. If you would like me to post additional comparisons I shall. The point I made still stands.</p>

<p>[Millions</a> Living Above The Poverty Line Also Struggle To Get By](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>Millions Living Above The Poverty Line Also Struggle To Get By | HuffPost Impact)</p>

<p>The large share of the population struggling to pay bills includes Americans of all types, the WOW report found. More than one-fifth of homes headed by a college graduate and 24 percent of Americans working full-time can’t make ends meet, according to the report. Those statistics indicate that economic insecurity extends beyond the unemployed or little-educated, McMahon said.</p>

<p>[Federal</a> Poverty Line Doesn’t Adequately Reflect Cost Of Living In America, Analysis Finds](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>Federal Poverty Line Doesn't Adequately Reflect Cost Of Living In America, Analysis Finds | HuffPost Impact)</p>

<p>Just because the government doesn’t define you as poor, doesn’t mean you have enough money to live.</p>

<p>The federal poverty line for a family of four was $23,283 last year, nearly one-quarter of what it takes to live in New York City and slightly more than one-third of what it takes to live in St. Louis, according a family budget calculator from the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. In fact, EPI found that in 615 cities across the country it takes a total income at least twice the federal poverty line for any type of family with three children or fewer to afford basic expenses.</p>

<p>[Family</a> Budget Calculator | Economic Policy Institute](<a href=“http://www.epi.org/resources/budget/]Family”>Economic Policy Institute | Family Budget Calculator)</p>

<p>EPI’s Family Budget Calculator measures the income a family needs in order to attain a secure yet modest living standard by estimating community-specific costs of housing, food, child care, transportation, health care, other necessities, and taxes. The budgets, updated for 2013, are calculated for 615 U.S. communities and six family types (either one or two parents with one, two, or three children).</p>

<p>As compared with official poverty thresholds such as the federal poverty line and Supplemental Poverty Measure, EPI’s family budgets offer a higher degree of geographic customization and provide a more accurate measure of economic security. In all cases, they show families need more than twice the amount of the federal poverty line to get by.</p>

<p>Just trying to shed light on the fact that in high COLA’s a modest household income does not translate to a high standard of living and definitely not financial security. I placed my information in this calculator. My household income was well below the figure stated for meeting bills with my family size and location. Although many on cc would see my household income (93k) and assume a high standard of living. According to the calculator a comfortable salary would be 125k which is quite a lot more than what we make.</p>

<p>OHmom,</p>

<p>Yes, I agree with your statement.</p>