<p>But proudpatriot, wouldn’t you think it was “a little odd” if the ONLY people in America driving Chevrolets were the middle-class, while BOTH the ultra-rich and the poor were given the opportunity to drive a BMW, and the poor were actually given subsidies so that in some instances the BMW’s were free? </p>
<p>Why not do the same for housing? Everyone who is middle-class should pay 500,000 dollars for a 1200 square foot house with poor insulation and windows that let in the cold, while anyone who is poor should have the opportunity to apply to live in a mansion, just like the rich. </p>
<p>LEt’s charge people different prices to go to Disneyland. Why should a middle class person have to go there when there is a perfectly nice lake outside of town where they could go on a daytrip? Let’s have subsidized admission to Disneyland for the poor and make the ticket prices so high that only extremely wealthy people can go. THere’s no law that says that middle class people should ever have that “fancy” kind of vacation. That should be reserved only for the very wealthy and the very poor.</p>
<p>And weddings? Middle class people should have homemade cake and a reception at their house, but everyone who is poor should be allowed to apply to have one of those weddings like you see on TV. </p>
<p>Evidently, the colleges are more impressed by the poor students who manage to meet their admissions qualifications than by the middle class students. That’s understandable. The colleges also probably feel that the all around educational experience they offer is more enriched by the presence of these students on campus. Many schools would also like to hold themselves up as models of service, and enabling poor students the opportunity to attend their school can be regarded as fulfilling a mission of service.</p>
<p>One of the things I find least comprehensible about the financial aid system is the discount given for multiple kids in college. Why should a parent of kids who are 4 or more years apart be left footing a total bill for their college education that is close to double what a parent of twins would pay? This seems incredibly unfair to me. Why not have a special loan program for parents of multiple kids in college so that everyone pays the same in the end? </p>
<p>Momzie,
Where is your evidence that this is the case? We hear anecdotally all the time that poor kids get a “free ride” to college, but the data don’t bear out the assertion. Take a look at the bottom of this page (the same as I posted earlier).</p>
<p>By far the highest net cost as percentage of income is borne by low income families. In most cases the cost to a $60,000 income family and a $20,000 income family are only a few thousand dollars apart. At some schools (admittedly among those with the lowest admit rate like Amherst, Brown, Haverford and Duke) the percentage of income paid by someone earning $60,000 is lower than the percentage of income paid by both someone earning $200,000 and someone earning $20,000.</p>
<p>So what you’re saying is students who received about let’s say 49 credits cons the system by getting a four year college degree. There’s so much to address in this. First things first, Bright Futures (at the highest level) covers $103 per credit hour for 120 credits. Florida knows that the kid who has received the scholarship, at most, will cost them $12,360. If the child receives NO credit towards their degree from the less than 60 credits they received at community college (which is doubtful…but…), they will spend their time, generally 120 credits/4 years, at the university. Let’s say the kid does have all of their attempted 49 credits at community college transferred over to their university. They are 49 credits closer to their degree and have 71 credits more to go to their degree. If they only have 71 credits to go, they will only use 71 credits worth of their Bright Futures. A nice number of $7,313. This student WILL be considered a freshman for admission, but is NOT considered a freshman by credits. Rather than…</p>
<p>I’m not even gong to finish this. This theory is poppycock. </p>
<p>
Yes, they can. I have only referenced Florida public colleges. Through your posts you’ve said to give up the residential college experience and go for the local state college, how am I to go to a local state college if there is none near me? I know the answer, but not everyone lives close to FAU, UF, or FSU. Fortunately, Florida publics have been doing a good job for establishing satellite campuses. </p>
<p>Additionally, in another thread, people were talking about cars and it was brought up that a Chevrolet can cost the equivalent to a BMW or more. Not debating or anything. Just saying the brand doesn’t say everything. </p>
<p>I’m always amazed at how jealous people are of the poor. I guess it’s slightly better for middle-income people to be jealous of the poor than for rich people to be.</p>
<p>Seriously, it seems to me that, being as charitable as possible, what this really comes down to is that at some colleges, aid programs are not sufficiently graduated so there may be some middle-income people who might be financially disadvantaged. The result is that those middle-income people may have somewhat narrowed options in terms of college choice, although they should all be able to obtain college degrees without unreasonable debt. I don’t see this as a crisis. The crisis, if there is one, will result from people making bad choices and taking on more debt than they can manage in order to chase marginally better prestige.</p>
<p>No-one is jealous of the poor. That’s silly. </p>
<p>But, by way of explanation - The middle class, as in the lower middle class not the 300K family who these folks would consider the rich btw, is only not part of the poor because of effort, One catastrophic event or bad choice and they will be poor, too. So, the sympathy level is naturally going to be lessened. The poor to them is not some data point that they pity. It’s real people they see every day doing really dumb stuff. No, not always.</p>
<p>Hey I’m willing to switch childhood incomes in a heart beat. I was full Pell all through undergrad. Lucky me! Who wants to switch family incomes?</p>
<p>Anybody read the comic strip “Tom the Dancing Bug?” He has a recurring character called “Lucky Ducky” who always outrages a rich guy with all the goodies he gets for being poor.</p>
<p>It’s an exaggeration, of course, to say that rich people are “jealous” of the poor. But there are a lot of misconceptions about how easy the poor (supposedly) have it.</p>
<p>Flossy-The rich are only not part of the middle class because of effort, One catastrophic event or bad choice and they will be middle class, too. So, the sympathy level is naturally going to be lessened. The middle class to them is not some data point that they pity. It’s real people they see every day doing really dumb stuff. No, not always. ;)</p>
<p>Sue, you could very well be correct. So that explains why the rich don’t pity the middle class and the middle class doesn’t pity the poor. I think we’ve got if all figured out. Hmmm.</p>
<p>The California higher education master plan actually worked for quite some time. What changed was the amount of support from the state, in large part due to a loss in revenue from Prop 13. It’s still possible for lower-income and some middle-class students to attend CA public colleges and pay no tuition. </p>
<p>I’m relatively new to CC (just a few months). I consider myself a real middle income family. Yes we made AGI last year of $154K but the year before was $51K less:( I’m the breadwinner and I work on a 100% commission and it can drastically change like crazy. I have not make any $ for the last month, so I’m living out of savings. My S applied to 1 state school, 2 public OOS and 9 privates and the decision will be based on finances. Good luck to all</p>
<p>saona63 - similar to us – probably largely upper middle class in crazy and hugely expensive California, but my husband works like nuts and has for years, has 3 degrees (2 of the 3 paid for by us), yet now because of the economy being bad for some five years, his firm folded and he is self-employed. Every month’s income is different–good, bad, or nothing… Being self-employed (or owning a business) is a HUGE stress, and people who have not done it or been around it have no idea how risky it is (and anything you reap from it, you are WELL entitled to–well, at least the 50% the government does not take). Our S will have to go to the private school that offers the most merit, etc… and that’s if no disaster strikes as Sue22 mentioned.</p>
<p>No one is jealous of the poor and we should be able to discuss our unique financial circumstances without fear of ridicule. </p>
<p>I’ve been on the poor side, full Pell side, and now on the comfortable but not rich side. One illness, one divorce, one injury, one lawsuit and I can find myself worse off than when I lived in the projects. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t trade being comfortable with being poor on any day for whatever perceived benefits it may provide me.</p>
<p>The issue most people have is the fact that attending a top college will be expensive. Everyone doesn’t pay the same amount. The comfortable are being told that they should be able to afford it and should stop whining. At the end, the banks are more than happy to stick the families with lots of debt. The only way to fix this would be for the comfortable families to take a stand and send their kids to affordable schools. Decrease the supply of students willing to pay full or near full price.</p>