<p>Cobrat, are you not aware that schools can and do give out both merit and need based monies? Really?</p>
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<p>I am. That’s why I am somewhat puzzled as to why aid has to be either merit or need based in separate categories. </p>
<p>Some colleges I know of…including my alma mater provided scholarships which took both criteria into account. Must demonstrate academic merit & financial need.</p>
<p>Who says it “has” to be one or the other? There are all different combinations and permutations of college aid. But you seem to want to demand that all aid MUST include need, and it simply isnt reasonable. Many schools have top scholarships from privately donated funds that are earmarked for certain types of students, whether it be for students with purple hair and one green and one brown eye, or students with 900000000 hours of community service. Irrespective of need. Why can’t privately funded scholarships determine what kind of student they want to fund?</p>
<p>Here’s an interesting read: [Should</a> Financial Aid Be Based on Need or Merit? - Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition - WSJ](<a href=“WSJ in Higher Education | Trusted News & Real-World Insights”>WSJ in Higher Education | Trusted News & Real-World Insights)</p>
<p>Need-based aid is sometimes given out to students who the college wants more too. Assuming equal EFC, some kids are offered more than others. I’d say that’s a combo of need and merit, essentially.</p>
<p>Of course, “need” can have a very flexible definition. A family of three with one in college may considered by Harvard to have “need” at income up to $230,000 per year, according to its net price calculator: [Net</a> Price Calculator](<a href=“http://npc.fas.harvard.edu/]Net”>http://npc.fas.harvard.edu/)</p>
<p>jym626,</p>
<p>I’m talking scholarships provided through college funds. Since most private colleges are supported by the public through things like Federal grants, their scholarship policies should at least align with the public interest to encourage access for those with demonstrated academic merit from the lower SES for beneficial public policy reasons. </p>
<p>Something which IMO is not served when colleges reduce the amount of need-based FA/scholarships to provide merit aid without accounting for income/SES. In fact, this controversy has erupted even at my LAC as they did away with need-blind admissions not too long after I was admitted and added merit scholarships some years later. </p>
<p>It’s a reason why many alums…myself included are specifically earmarking donations only to funds supporting need-based FA/scholarships and nothing else. Others have opted to refuse donating altogether. </p>
<p>Private scholarships outside the auspices of ostensibly non-profit private colleges or public colleges are a separate matter. Though I will not be one to donate to private scholarships where those who are well-off could be subsidized. IMO, that would be encouraging behavior I consider to be morally sketchy and some well-off friends regard as “mooching”.</p>
<p>Good point, ucbalum. And we have certainly seen posters here who have reported receiving large need-based aid for their kid(s) yet talk about their retirement and investment accounts, their personal bankers, expensive vacations, hobbies,meals, etc.</p>
<p>Cobrat-
The reality is there are lots of sources of funding, and we are all talking about the various sources of college aid, not just the ones you have decided to address. Merit aid is not coming from federal funds, AFAIK, particularly at the private schools. You apparently have your own agenda, and we have heard it. Over and over. Even at the publics offering merit $$, its usually a foundation funded by endowments or contributions from alums, faculty, staff, etc.</p>
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<p>That’s exactly why alums at my and other colleges specifically earmark where their donated funds goes so they can be assured their funds go to areas of the college they support…whether it’s need-based FA/scholarships, the English lit department, CS/computer labs, Art studios, or conservatory practice spaces/instruments.</p>
<p>And thats also why they can earmark their donations to go to merit based scholarships. Or to infrastructure improvements, or faculty salaries, or whatever. But it isnt just for need based aid. Enough already.</p>
<p>So, if I want to earmark my donation to feed the stray dogs on campus, does that qualify as need based aid? </p>
<p>Your statement about earmarking donations is exactly how and why merit aid as a stand alone funding source can be provided as an incentive to attract incoming students</p>
<p>I thought H dropped their ceiling from 180 to 160k, this year?? I see this: “Families with incomes up to $150,000 will pay from zero to 10 percent of their income, depending on individual family circumstances. Families with incomes above $150,000 may still qualify for need-based assistance.”</p>
<p>I remember one school sending us info, including an example of tidy FA to a family earning 180k- super, until you read the fine print about 6 kids, 4 in college at the same time. Or somesuch.</p>
<p>As for your contributions, you’re talking “designated” vs “undesignated.”</p>
<p>I thank god for questbridge because otherwise I wouldn’t have even given a second look to some of the schools I applied to.</p>
<p>I think what some are saying here is that QB or Posse should give some (or more) finaid advice and maybe share some college savvy with the kids they help. Did they do that MMike, did they help you understand Fafsa and Profile, EFC, gapping, how to analyze an aid package, etc?</p>
<p>Replying to “Do you donate to your alma mater?”</p>
<p>I donated to Harvard for a few years after getting a job but have stopped, because I disapprove of its policy continually raising the list price faster than inflation, of its use of racial preferences in admission, and because Larry Summers’ forced resignation over non-PC comments about women in science made a mockery of the school motto of Veritas. I read of new administrative positions such as a “Director of BGLTQ Student Life” and conclude that Harvard ought to have less money, not more (and have previously advocated taxing its endowment).</p>
<p>Khan Academy, Coursera, and other endeavors are much more efficient in educating people and more deserving of support. Bill Gates has funded Khan. Residential colleges mix in some useful functions with a lot of nonsense, and I hope that online education will foster an unbundling that separates the wheat from the chaff.</p>
<p>But I’m betting you wouldn’t hesitate to send your kid there and pay full price. After all, where else could he find THE very smartest kids as measured by SATs.</p>
<p>Yes, cobrat, we know you’re still resentful of anyone not from the lower SES class you were from. It comes through loud and clear. Anyone who has got the teensiest bit of money, even if they worked hard for it, is “bourgeois” and not genuine, and is always looking to screw over the little guy.</p>
<p>Yes, Beliavsky, we know how you feel about women, minorities, and people who are different from you. </p>
<p>How did we get from a story about three underprivileged girls struggling to make it in college to which alumni donate to Harvard, anyway? Magicomike, I too am interested in hearing more about your experience. Are you in college now?</p>
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Whoa. You think the president’s incredibly insensitive comments about women was no big deal?</p>