<p>If you do very well in high school, work your ass off, get
straight A’s, high scores etc aren’t you entitled to something
other than a part time job at fast food and a drive
to the local comm college? We tell kids to work hard
and achieve in hs and then turn around and say, “sorry
we have no place for you, but if you had the money…”
The sense of entitlement for many lower income kids
comes from teachers, political leaders and the media.
They’re given a false message to keep them at the wheel.
If we really said, " Look, you probably won’t be going to
one of the “better” colleges no matter how well you do."
it would certainly be more honest, but we wouldn’t be able
to sustain the sham.</p>
<p>if the ‘rich kids’ go to State U and pay full freight (with their rich parents feeling good that it’s ‘only’ costing them 15-20K vs 50K, wouldn’t that free up $$ for the ‘poor kids’ to get federal/state/institutional aid from the college.</p>
<p>There needs to be a balance of full pay and ‘need based’ students.</p>
<p>speedo, I think your scenario is just false. all of the “poor” kids I know who worked like heck in high school have gotten into great schools that meet 100% need or close to it. I think top schools really reward people who work hard to meet the best of their circumstances…</p>
<p>“If our society cannot control the cost of education, we are headed towards the same sort of crisis that we now have in healthcare. Soon, unless something radical is done, only the wealthy will be able to afford quality healthcare or higher education…that way leads to chaos.” feudi pandola</p>
<p>sueinphilly - PSU has tried your strategy even spending
a good deal of money recruiting wealthy oos kids - has’t
worked out</p>
<p>Laloo6 - your scenario is supported by the facts. Check out
any of the research Journal of Blacks in Higher Ed for one.
The numbers of low incomes in the top schools has been
declining for some time.</p>
<p>It works sometimes. Friend was accepted at PSU from Florida and pays full price (total cost at a Florida public university would have been less than 1/2 of what he now pays). He’s probably subsidizing 2 or 3 Pennsylvania students. In Florida his tuition would have been 0 because of Bright Futures.</p>
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<p>Her ya, hear ya… We are first-generation immigrants, my wife and I came to the US with less than $100 in total assets and a 12-month old baby. We lived on $620/month in Chicago with NO wellfare, we actually paid taxes (around $200/month, the beauty of the US tax system for “non residents”). We worked our asses off, never complained, never cost the government a dime, never took on any debt. Fortunately for us, we had education and eventually worked ourselves up to the class of "top 5% earners who seem to have so much scorn heaped on them in this thread. And now we will HAPPILY pay $250k for our D’s education a) because it is part of how we were raised B) it is the right thing to do C) once you get outside your own state the difference between a public and private college is marginal, at least if you have our income D) our “flagship” state U sucks pretty badly. We will spend every last cent we have saved in non-retirement accounts to fund our D’s education, and that is fine, we will live again. Our mortgage is $1500, our house is considerably cheaper than what people with our income live in, we have never paid more than $15k for a car, no boat, no second home. Yes, we do see a lot of our D’s peers from the McMansions down the street go to the crappy state school even though they were admitted in some really good programs.</p>
<p>Do I feel bitter about those kids from families with modest means who will pay next to nothing for the same education? Absolutely not. If things go the way they have been going, in 10 years our savings will have recovered to “pre college” levels, our decent retirement savings will have grown, and we will “live happily ever after”. </p>
<p>What is the point of this rant? Any family in a similar situation that claims they cannot fund their childrens’ education is full of s**t, plain and simple. Unfortunately, such parents can pass off lack of discipline and fiscal responsibility as “the government is sticking it to you, kiddo”. </p>
<p>To the OP: don’t feel bad for your classmates from affluent families, the tables have not turned, because college is what you make of it, whether it costs $25k or $250k. You can go to your fancy school “for free”, but unless you make something out of it, this will be money flushed down the drain. From the tone of your post, you sound like a thoughtful kid who will make the most of the opportunity given to you. Go for it, make all the money and taxes I am paying to send you (and others like you) to school mean something, and everything will be just fine.</p>
<p>GroovyGeek: Will you be my best friend? That was an awesome post, I should be as eloquent and practical as you. (I am being serious too)</p>
<p>“I am also not to worried about the debt because when I get out I’m going to be making around 300k a year.” </p>
<p>I’m not sure whether posters that make such remarks are simply doing it to rile up folks or whether there are really kids out there that think this is true. Unfortunately a “good” post BA or BS entry level job is no where near 6 figures. Dream on kids.</p>
<p>^^^He’s thinking about when he finishes dental school which would be a good 6 years away.</p>
<p>First year dentists don’t make $300K per year. It takes some experience to get up there, if you ever do.</p>
<p>^^^^I agree</p>