Well, no, not so much. blarghblargh’s quote was: “an affordable education should be accessible to all”. Not “an Ivy League education should be accessible to all”. THAT’S the point. I agree that college costs are way too high. I agree that a certain set of middle/upper middle income students is effectively priced out of some schools regardless of their academic ability. I DON’T agree that these schools have to somehow make the COA satisfactory for everyone who gets in. Were that the case, why would anyone be “satisfied” with anything other than “free”?</p>
<p>Well, you have to realize that it’s undesired to have a school lacking of diversity in terms of financial background. The Ivy League schools have the reputation of being hangouts for rich, preppy, snobby students, and I think this reputation has decreased a lot over the years due to the increase of financial aid.</p>
<p>You also have to realize that a pricey school might be someone’s dream school, so it wouldn’t be fair for him to be unable to attend just because he doesn’t have enough money to do so. After all, he put in much effort just to be accepted into the school. Money shouldn’t be a factor. If anything, I think money undermines the value of education.</p>
<p>In the end, fairness is irrelevant. Unfairness in life is the rule. Anybody who can afford to go to any college in this country should get down on his/her knees and kiss the ground for having a life so good that the luxury of college is available to him. This whining about not being able to attend the Ivy League because of costs is really pathetic. That’s just Tough. Gee, you might be stuck at a state school with free access to state of the art gyms, aquatics, climbing walls, student union buildings, huge libraries, free internet and computers, all for 1/4 the cost of an ivy league education. Life is a baitch.</p>
<p>Um, 1/4?? Bit of a stretch there, unless you are thinking tuition only? Most places it’s more than 1/3 and some states, like Illinois the figure is about 1/2. Cheaper, yes, but not THAT much cheaper.</p>
<p>That just doesn’t make sense. Just because a school is someone’s “dream school” does not necessarily mean that they should be entitled to have someone else subsidize that education through their own taxes or higher tuition costs. My son had to pass on schools that he was admitted to but could not afford. The bottom line is that people need to go schools that they can afford and stop thinking they are entitled to an education at whatever school they “dream” about.</p>
<p>HoldenintheRye - lots of kids work hard in high school - very hard. But that is what expected when given a K-12 education (typically paid for by taxpayers). Doing well doesn’t mean that others are then required to also pay for whatever dream school that student decides is his favorite. </p>
<p>Just because a school is someone’s “dream school” does not necessarily mean that they should be entitled to have someone else subsidize that education through their own taxes or higher tuition costs.</p>
<p>This is very true. A person’s dream school designation does not obligate others to pay.
If that became true, the colleges would raise their prices even more because others would be obligated to pay for Johnny’s and Susie’s college costs.</p>
<p>“I feel $20,000 ISS is affordable if not pretty low.”</p>
<p>It looks like you’re using a lesser expensive state COA for that number. Frankly, most people can’t afford $20k per year. I know a number of families with 2-3+ kids who could never spend $80k per child on college. And, the concept of “going away to college” is a luxury for most kids. </p>
<p>People with limited means can often (not always) get their college education by going to a CC for a few years, and then commuting to their local univ…all for a total cost of under $30k total (not true for all states, but many).</p>
<p>The sense of entitlement by some is absolutely incredible. Mature and intelligent people assess their opportunities and act accordingly. If your folks are dirt poor, you don’t get adequate financial aid, and you can’t work your way through the college you want, go to a less expensive college . . or join the military and let it put you through school. Or delay college until after you have earned what you need. Whining about it will not do you any good.</p>
<p>Not sure what ISS stands for, but 20K per year for the total cost of college, including living in the dorms, is doable in the Florida Public colleges. Of course, whether it is affordable or not depends on individual circumstances.</p>
<p>$20K a year might as well be $20Million a year if you don’t have it and can’t access it. My state schools are about that, and those without the money can’t do it. We are supposed to be able to afford that and much more, and have a hard time doing so, as college is not the only priority in life.</p>
<p>Florida has a “prepaid” program which lets you pay for your child’s future college years at today’s prices, over a time period of five years or so. It not only covers tuition and fees, but dorms also. Add to that Bright Futures for students who get decent gpas, and a Stafford Loan and the cost, at least in Florida, can be very manageable even by those with moderate incomes . . . so long as they have planned ahead.</p>
<p>When I said $20,000 I did not specify a state. $20,000 a year, I believe, is an affordable COA. </p>
<p>With $20,000 a year, financial aid, for the people who qualify, is readily available. Merit aid goes farther with that amount. The loans stay small. </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids Clearly a family with 2-3 kids wouldn’t pay $80,000/year for a child to go to college. COA are hardly the amount that is actually paid, and with merit and financial aid, $20,000 becomes affordable. </p>
<p>@Guy ISS stands for in-state school.</p>
<p>@cpt What group of people would you consider to not have “access” to funds to pay for college? </p>
<p>
What prepaid covers is dependent on what the parents paid for. Only tuition is fairly common.</p>
<p>In my state, the 4 cornerstone universities cost about $20K a year. They do not meet full need, so a family without any money to spare is going to have to come up with the gap. If they are truly low income, PELL eligible, that can be a problem, a big one.</p>
<p>Other families that have to hesitate in paying college costs are those who may be coming off some true financial issues or embarking on them, like loss of job, downswing in business and revenues, health issues, any issues that are important.</p>
<p>Finally if one has other children and have invested in a life style such as school district, community and quality of life, and things have gotten tight for any number of reasons, the money put aside and the extra income can be gone pretty quickly. The choice may come down to whether the entire family’s life style gets disrupted for college or if the student should look for less expensive options, merit awards, commuting, local state schools. One can often borrow for college but Parent loans have close to an 8% interest rate and if thing are not so affordable now, the future may not bring a better ability to pay, depending on what the situation is and what other children are in the family. </p>
<p>Every year I see upper income families find themselves in the situation where coming up with college amounts are difficult and really unwise to pay. Savings was not what it should have been, income has not gone up, investments were shot and it’s gonna be tight to maintain the status quo. College for the kid, especially going away for college is not the be all to end all.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids Clearly a family with 2-3 kids wouldn’t pay $80,000/year for a child to go to college. COA are hardly the amount that is actually paid, and with merit and financial aid, $20,000 becomes affordable.>></p>
<p>I believe what she meant was 20K for each of four years when she said 80K, not that amount per year. If you have multiple kids, that easily is unaffordable for many people.</p>
<p>If you are talking about NY, a Pell-eligible kid is likely eligible for a TAP grant–another $5k. This brings the $20k price of going away to college within the realm of possibility for a kid from a family too poor to help at all.</p>
<p>Well we don’t qualify for any need based aid, but D decided to go to a State School. With Florida Prepaid and bright futures, her dorm, tuition, fees and books are taken care of. We have to come up for the meal plan and her personal living expenses. Pretty good deal from my perspective. Bought the prepaid plan in the latter 90s, and it has increased in price five times since then due to the increase in tuition. She almost chose a private school that would have cost another 20K in tuition, but she really likes the State School campus, which sold her, had far better facilities than the private school. If you are going to live at a school for four years, decent facilities are really crucial. </p>
<p>Anyway, we are perfectly happy with this State school as opposed to having to incur what I consider outrageous tuition by most of the private schools out there. I just don’t see how it can be worth it to go to those schools when the state schools offer so much and are so much more reasonably priced.</p>
<p>I’ll just chime in with that I’m glad that many private schools in this country make it an institutional priority to allow lower-middle class kids to go to school-- and I’m one of them.</p>
<p>There’s some hidden rhetoric here that lower-income families don’t work as hard (or shouldn’t be as deserving). I don’t think that’s been said outright, but it is implied in a lot of the statements here (that upper-income families don’t receive very much in FA because it’s going to people who spent their money unwisely). And I don’t think that’s true at all.</p>
<p>My family is probably lower middle class (but in a lower COL area). I live in a two parent, two-income family. Both parents work full time. True, we don’t have that many savings for college (I think my college fund has something like $400). But my parents are going to be able to pay out our EFC from mainly current income, because they made a choice to pay off the mortgage early and I am lucky enough to have parents to make college funding a priority.</p>
<p>However, just like every other family paying for college, paying the EFC (relatively low by some standards) will be a stretch. Just like other families (higher income or not), we are making sacrifices and talking about economic choices. It’s not particularly easy for any family-- just wanted to throw that out there.</p>
this is your biased perception of this thread because you believe that people look down on you for the reasons you are saying. Nobody that I know begrudges the lower income family with aid necessary to go to school. What I begrudge are the people who believe they are ENTITLED to that aid. You are entitled to NOTHING other than what you can pay out of your own funds. You should of course be grateful for what you get from third parties willing to contribute to your education. They have the right to do so, but no mandate to do so. Anybody can fund their own college education if they choose to do so. They might have to join the military or might have to graduate in a longer period of time because they need to work while going to school, or worse, may not graduate from the most prestigious school in the country. But that’s the way life is meant to be. You take it as it comes and you don’t whine because things are not the way you want them to be.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids Clearly a family with 2-3 kids wouldn’t pay $20,000/year for a child to go to college. COA are hardly the amount that is actually paid, and with merit and financial aid, $20,000 becomes affordable.</p>
<p>If you are going to stand their and rattle your tin cup at least have the decency to understand that you have not earned the money landing in that cup. The non-merit based financial aid provided to you and your parents is educational welfare. You receive it because you and your parents are unable to properly cover the costs of your education. Just say thank you for what you are being given.</p>