It all depends on how we define what is being offered and how we define the government’s proper role. I assume you would not have people feel ashamed of sending their children to free public K-12 schools? The difference between government funding of K-12 education and a government subsidy for less affluent citizens to enjoy postsecondary education does not seem terribly clear-cut to me.</p>
<p>And accepting government assistance should always be “socially acceptable” if you actually need it.</p>
<p>The EFC seems to be based largely on current income levels (assuming there is not a large amount of assets). For someone like us, this is a relatively recent phenomena, preceded by times of much lower income and higher bills. Also, it seems to imply that you are going to maintain that income level indefinitely in order to pay off large loans. Meanwhile, my company is going through another round of layoffs.</p>
<p>OK, my only whine is acceptances are coming out at one of S’s schools - his first choice among those we can actually ‘afford’…and we are waiting…S’s friend heard today…still nothing for us…will need something strong to go with the cheesecake or whatever’s on the menu for tonight!</p>
<p>Sooo true! UMass is my state school and unfortunately, it tends to be looked down upon by many. Personally, I don’t want to go in-state, but if it’s the most affordable option, I’ll do it. It is an excellent school, especially for engineering and of course, it has Isenberg. Unfortunately, it tends to get a bad rep from almost everyone and it doesnt’ help that it is greatly overshadowed by schools like Amherst, Harvard, etc. I kind of wish UMass was better funded by the state, but that’s a diff. story. I’d love to live in VA, for instance, soo many great public state schools.</p>
<p>My kids are almost done; we totally had whining moments in the beginning. Back in the dark ages, 2000-2003 CC was small and there was not much info available. The suggestion was to apply widely and see what you get. With one whole FAFSA school, we learned that our (back then) unprotected home equity would preclude all CSS profile schools. DD probably should have done a gap year, but she refused.</p>
<p>Next kid did mostly FAFSA schools, but there was one 7 sisters school who offered a $25k grant plus mega loans. What gets me about that is that out NEED was filled with loans and I was supposed to buy that logic and saddle my kid with nearly $100k in debt for an UG degree, which would right now have her in the same spot as all those other kids who are whining in the paper and inspiring “why were your parents so stupid as to let you take out these loans” </p>
<p>I don’t get finaid calling loans aid and I don’t get the sheep of our culture- “Go to your dream school, no matter what” then a year or two later, “what is wrong with you? why did you take loans” We did not take loans, but many did and were told that is the way it is and now are being told they should have known better.</p>
<p>The inconsistencies are frustrating.</p>
<p>Also, several years of “no loans” “no loand for income below $XYZ” "no home equity for income below $XYZ) Those policies could have been helpful to us, but they happened right after my kid began, can you imagine being at HYPS with $25k in loans and the kids a year behind with the same EFC get “no loans” Great, feeling like a stooge!</p>
<p>instead of whining, you people should shout out with joy that 1) your child has received admissions; and 2) you have been blessed with incomes and/or assets that qualify you with a high EFC.</p>
<p>I disagree. As much as it’s easy for me to use such a blanket statement - especially as a low-income student - things aren’t that clear cut. Even for frugal families, carving $50,000 out of a $200,000 income takes sacrifice. Sacrifice is difficult and occasionally impossible. That said, many families (and students!) also aren’t willing.</p>
If you said “as well as” rather than “instead of,” I’d be with you.</p>
<p>To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to shout out with joy, and a time to whine. And the time (and place) to whine is here in this thread.</p>
<p>(BTW, as OP I’d like to again state our family is very middle of the road - both of us work, neither of us makes huge $$$, but are both professionals and love our jobs - so please don’t put all posters in one pot…)</p>
<p>Tonight’s whining indulgence - mint chocolate ice cream!!!</p>
<p>well, what I am trying to say is that there are still many who are still waiting for the good news. If you have gotten some, better yet, with some $$ coming with them. You are among the lucky ones. </p>
<p>besides, you should have known about each school’s FA policy/awards before you paid top $ to apply. </p>
<p>thirdly, I have not heard that anyone who can’t pay their EFC, only unwilling to. So, if you are not willing to pay what you know you will be asked to pay, why apply there? </p>
<p>If you can pay and have options to not pay, what are you whining about?</p>
<p>C’mon, Dad II. We all know that there are some schools that offer the golden ticket FA packages. Can’t someone else have a chance to win the FA lottery besides you? ;)</p>
<p>I’m not whining about our FA, but I’ve been working with a couple of other seniors this year who are up against the wall when it comes to the need for good FA, and it hasn’t been pretty so far.</p>
<p>DadII - I agree with your posts except for a couple of points.</p>
<p>
Problem is the colleges are NOT transparent in this at all.
After 8 consecutive years of this - I am too tired and wiped out (in more ways than one!) to whine much.</p>
<p>About paying the EFC - many families have difficulties paying the EFC. I do. Not only that - about 95% of colleges expect you to pay much MORE than the EFC. The SMALLER your EFC the bigger gap you will likely have. </p>
<p>My initiation into Financial aid was my first child. She applied to three colleges, one state and two private (Catholic). Our EFC was around $5000 or so and I had three younger kids at home. It was just over the limit for any federal grants, I worked full time and my (then) husband worked two full time jobs.
Both Catholic colleges offered her very nice merit aid grants. One college awarded her half tuition merit aid scholarship. Unbeknownst to us - this particular college offered NO need based grants. When I asked about it, they said they put all their money toward merit scholarships and my daughter was awarded a very nice one. Tuition then was about $30,000. It was truly mind boggling, after going round and round they finally admitted that this policy was not clear and they should do a better job of making it clear.</p>
<p>OK, well now you’ve heard, because we CAN’T pay our EFC. It’s ridiculous. We come from a high-tax state and recently put an addition onto our house for our small business (my husband literally worked in the basement for 8 years). The advice we were given was to go ahead an apply to a lot of schools, because our son has excellent stats and “you never know.” Besides, this is supposed to be a WHINING thread! ;-)</p>
<p>Our EFC does not reflect past lower income,living in a high cost of living area, high home repair costs (not home improvements), and medical bills, resulting in an inability to save a large amount of money. Future EFC is unknown because we may well be laid off one of these days.</p>
<p>So…we are ‘unwilling’ to meet the EFC, because to do that both S and ourselves would have to take out massive loans. S would be poor for half his adult life. We would have no resources to pay for college for his younger 2 siblings, and if we lost our jobs, it would force us into bankruptcy. And we would not ever be able to retire.</p>
You feel free to make those very valid points in any thread you choose to start for that purpose. Otherwise leave us to whine in peace, ok?</p>
<p>Because what you appear to be missing is the undercurrent, the backstory that each of us brings to the whine. Some of it has to do with money, some with lifestyle choices, some of us just fixate on the money because if we delve too deeply, we’ll have to acknowledge that our precious babies are going away. We all have our reasons and we’re all in need of support, humor and friendship. If you can’t be a part of that, please choose another thread to make your extremely important points.</p>
<p>Good points. It occurs to me that the EFC is a best case projection, assuming that people want to spend all of their savings and expendable income on one thing - college. Not retirement savings, not ‘rainy day’ savings, etc. It’s imprudent.</p>
<p>Just a mom-how correct you are about the bigger gap with the lower EFC. </p>
<p>I was stupid enough to think that my lower EFC would be honored with the second child in school. The problem is, I was naive to the “leveraging” concept-better stats, more aid. Our older child was offered better packages than our son is with a much higher EFC because she had what colleges want to buy (high SAT, GPA, lots of APs with great scores). Her school is honoring the EFC reduction (she’s a great student and someone they want to keep). Our son is the “B” student and not a fabulous catch in the eyes of private colleges. I’d really like to go off on a rant to him but obviously four years of encouraging, nudging did little to motivate him toward a higher level of achievement. So I will rant here and he will most likely attend one of our state universities next year. I wish he had done what he needed to in order to have greater choices. I hope he is not full of regret down the road. I am thankful for the reduction in expenses for our older child, however. She will be getting a great education for a reasonable price.</p>
<p>Ahh, I feel better already and didn’t commit stupid parenting mistake #1456… (ranting at my son).</p>
<p>I love that some of you “get” what this thread was intended for (<<heart>>>!) </heart></p>
<p>Haven’t gotten anymore “official” fin aid packages yet besides the first. Figure I need to have more in hand before I go “whining” (wink) back to the first!!!</p>
<p>I am whining because this month is taking WAY too long! And H left for India yesterday for three weeks, and his return coincides with when we will hopefully have a lot more answers than we do now (he probably left on purpose so he doesn’t have to listen to me the rest of the month!). And while I am not happy with some of the FA packages that come in, I am very happy with my D’s response, “well throw that one in the #^@^&%$ pile”! She has grown up a little through this process.</p>