<p>I know there's a fin aid forum but this is a question about the system in general. I am a middle class white male who did better than average in hs but not like top 5% spectacular. I get nothing. My parents make enough to not get a dime from the fafsa yet I didn't graduate at the top of my class to win any huge merit awards. It seems that kids who did quite a bit worse in hs are getting 10,000 grand a year because they a have a low incom. Or gardudated from a inner city school. All they had o do was graduate, there was no merit qualification for this award. Come on seriously? I am goin on basically one year of parents funds then loans for the rest. I will graduate with more debt than poorer students and more debt than rich kids both of which had less academic merit(not in all cases some do deserve it). Sorry it's not a question it's more of a rant. Anyone else in my situation, it sucks.</p>
<p>Without need-based financial aid, many lower income/working class people can’t even afford to go to college. It’s there for a reason; a good one.</p>
<p>That said, the price of tuition is extreme, and it does put a burden on anyone not rich. Looking at the tuition of other countries, ours seems fairly ridiculous.</p>
<p>middle income white male… yeah, if you didn’t get a 35 ACT don’t expect much</p>
<p>Ya I’m not saying there should be no need based aid but I would just hope that I could maybe get a little cash for alittle hard work in high school. But I guess not</p>
<p>First off, “FAFSA” doesn’t give you anything, so I’m not surprised that they didn’t give you a dime…</p>
<p>And really, the majority of what low income kids receive for their low income (and this is what a 0 EFC gets you) is about $5550. That doesn’t even make a real dent. </p>
<p>Also, did you apply for any scholarships? You didn’t mention. I’m a very low income, white/Hispanic female who graduated with over a 3.8, a 33 ACT and still managed to get basically only one major scholarship and that was because of my community service and ACT score. It’s not a conspiracy against you, there are just very, very few funds to go around. You generally have to be in the top of the applicant pool to get merit aid. </p>
<p>Find a school where you are in the top ~10-15% of the admission pool and you will most likely get merit aid.</p>