<p>"The point is that the numbers generated by the FAFSA are precisely the source of the gap. Relying on the unreliable is the problem, not the solution."</p>
<p>Leonard, Leonard, Leonard: The numbers may be distroted, but every one is measured against the same yard stick as you are. If you come up with a better formula and can reduce your EFC by half, and then if you apply the same formula to all others their EFC will also go down. In that case the schools will change their stated philosophy that we mee 100% of demonstrated need to we meet 50% of your demonstrated need.</p>
<p>The FAFSA/Profile computer did not single you out and used different method.</p>
<p>With your logic, every one can claim that the non-sheltered monies are earmarked for retirement.</p>
<p>"Leonard, Leonard, Leonard: The numbers may be distroted, but every one is measured against the same yard stick as you are."</p>
<p>I haven't claimed they're not. I'm not speaking of only my individual case. Someone said "It's the system." Yes. And the system doesn't seem to work very well (I'm euphemizing, to be polite).</p>
<p>"With your logic, every one can claim that the non-sheltered monies are earmarked for retirement."</p>
<p>Oh, boy. Good grief...</p>
<p>Well, I'll bite my tongue. As I said, this is getting nowhere. Thanks for trying, though, I guess.</p>
<p>I've just spoken with a financial aid officer at what I'll call Very Prestigious U, one that I've not posted about in CC. (Not that I'm a believer in ths stuff, but just for reference, persistently placed a good bit above Rice in national rankings.)</p>
<p>It turns out that the person I spoke with was quite aware that FAFSA (etc.) can distort, cannot possibly fit each and every case, and so on. I mentioned that "We meet financial need" didn't always refer to real-world need, to which the response was yes, we realize that, and it's unfortunate, "our approach is to view the students that we admit as being our students, and it's our job to help them." This person very much welcomed being able to glean accurate and helpful information directly from the parent, and was very willing to review the case. </p>
<p>Which brings this back full circle to my original query. Depending on your individual case, you may not be doomed to falling irretrievably into the FAFSA trap. Those who find that the "official" figures misrepresent reality should not fear getting in touch with financial aid officers. Different universities may treat you very differently, I don't know. But the experience I just had was a very helpful discussion for mutual benefit, with the result that once our financial situation was clarified, aid was immediately doubled, and an effort is being made to quadruple it.</p>
<p>Leonard, I have learned that parents have to keep advocating for their kids all the way throughout college. Otherwise, the system will make mistakes and the students are too young and inexperienced to navigate it without falling through some of the cracks. I know in my situation that I have had to go to bat at least three times or more. I have a friend who taught me this lesson and has had to do the same. </p>
<p>Congratulations on your persistance in spite of the negative comments you endured here!</p>
<p>Congratulations on your persistance in spite of the negative comments you endured here!</p>
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<p>Thanks. Yours in your note is good advice, and yes, one must persist. (I wasn't going to let some here discourage me; I just found the general attitude of some odd, to say the least. And very unexpected.)</p>
<p>Harvard Eliminates Tuition for Lower-Income Families (Update1)</p>
<p>March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Harvard University, the oldest college in the U.S., said students from families with a combined income of $60,000 or less can attend the school for free.</p>
<p>The new program, the most generous in the eight-school Ivy League, will begin in September, the school said in a statement. Its plan also reduces the amount families with combined incomes of $60,000 to $80,000 will have to pay, the statement said.</p>
<p>``These increases in financial aid build on and extend out emphasis on recruiting students from low-income backgrounds and send a clear signal to middle-class families who have all too often felt that Harvard and other leading institutions are out of reach,'' Harvard President Lawrence Summers, 51, said in a statement.</p>
<p>As a former student at Rice who was essentially ejected by their financial aid determination after two years, all I have to say is this: make sure you are willing to pay the amount the sticker says. My father's income increased from about $35k/yr to the low $70s with a family of four, and it was somehow decided that our ability to pay had increased by a very large fraction of his pay increase - never mind the additional tax burden, or the inability to save in our situation with that family size. Am I bitter? Yes.</p>
<p>Fortunately, it doesn't matter. Rice doesn't have the marquee name of some other schools, except regionally, and I went to a school with virtually no prestige at all for the rest of my undergrad. Now I'm going to one of the best graduate programs in the country, where they'll be paying me. The irony, of course, is that a few of the people from my major I knew at Rice were there for some of the recruiting weekends I went to, also... the only difference is, they're carrying tens of thousands of dollars in debt that I'm not.</p>
<p>Moral of the story?</p>
<p>Rice isn't worth it unless you're either very rich or intend to stop at the B.S./B.A. level. Rice students may be the best, but the Rice faculty isn't - nor is their teaching.</p>
<p>disconsolatte, very sorry to hear of your story, but it does seem to have worked out for you in the end. </p>
<p>The good news for the future is that Harvard seems to be addressing the very real problem of the middle-class (so-called) squeeze. Perhaps others of similar costs will take the hint.</p>
<p>I think I have some authority on the topic, being in the position to compare two separate universities - elite private and unsung public, and succeeding in spite of the former. In my final semester at Rice, one of my professors expressed the same sentiment, namely, that the biggest challenge the university faced going forward was recruiting faculty that measured up to the student body. Is the Rice faculty the worst? No, but you'd expect a lot more in order to match the students they admit, and you'd expect a lot more for your dime.</p>
<p>While Rice is the only university which I have attended, I have to say that I have been thrilled with the quality of my professors, on the whole. Sure, at any school you will have weaker professors, and there have been a few at Rice that I haven't clicked with. But I have also made really strong bonds with several professors, been able to get involved in research, and learned a ton. I'm sorry that disconsolatte didn't have this experience. But I've taken classes in 14 departments at Rice and been mostly impressed with the quality of the faculty.</p>
<p>That new Harvard policy does not address the middle class squeeze, but probably hurts it. I bet some of the extra money going to the low income families is being taken away from the middle to upper middle class.</p>
<p>That new Harvard policy does not address the middle class squeeze, but probably hurts it. I bet some of the extra money going to the low income families is being taken away from the middle to upper middle class.</p>
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<p>I suppose it depends on one's perspective. Some would consider 60k "middle class", many more would consider 60-80k to fit in that category. The point is that the 45k-60k families, and 60-80k families, too, have been getting hit very hard, indeed. What happens now in the 80-100k range wasn't stated, but there should be some easing there, too.</p>