I recently applied to FAFSA online, and was given my Esitmated Family Contribution or EFC. This is what the government computer calculation system believes my parents and I should contribute to my tuition per year. I would not be surprised if a real person never saw my info or my results in the entire process. The computer tells me that we should pay a few hundred dollars short of 20 thousand dollars a year. Considering that most private college's tuition fees are at or around that figure, and state colleges are less, I will be counting on scholarships and loans to get my education.
It seems to me that one should either be poor enough to get school payed for by the government (which my good friend has done), or be rich enough not to need any financial aid. I fit into niether of these categories along with many other prospective students. This leaves middle class students looking to private instituions to help them geet an education. Does anyone else see a problem with this?
I know there are many factors that produce our present higher education funding system, but from my point of view, the policy makers don't seem to be very concerned with providing education for those who want it. They should be. With other countries like Argentina that are in a less fortunate financial position than the U.S. still providing free higher education, there is really no excuse. If the U.S. wants to prosper in the new global market, we need a higher education system that is comparable to other developed countries.
I have no doubt that a small fraction of the war budget would pay for all those who wanted to go to college.
What a shame.
who can afford college?
By bendayton - Posted on February 17th, 2007
Tagged: Education
• Broad prosperity
Unfortunately FAFSA doesn't look at anything except for what a family brings in. It doesn't consider what goes out and that leaves a lot of students to fall between the cracks. The only reason I get financial aid is because I'm married and therefore my parents income isn't taken into consideration. If it were, I'd be rowing the same boat that you are. We really do need changes. How we can expect to compete in the global market when college is getting so expensive as to be unaffordable except to those with 6 and 7 figure incomes, is beyond me.
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss
I go to a small private university, and I do fall into that same category of students. I am neither rich nor poor. I am right in the middle. Although I am here on scholarships, tuition is going up next year and I am now faced with a problem. How am I supposed to afford the new fees if I can barely afford the ones I have now?? So yeah. It sucks. I might have to transfer schools because of tuition, and I'm super bummed because this is the only school I applied to, the only school I wanted to come to. So where do I go next semester when I don't have the money to come back?? Who knows? I sure don't. But I definitely see where you are coming from.
I'm in the same boat you are. I wanted to leave the state I grew up in, I chose kansas because it is a great school as well as it is relatively in expensive for out of state students. However, being in the middle class, I have to pay for school thru loans. The obnoxious part is that everything that we have to do to go to school we need our parents consent. I have great credit history, beyond 3 years of great credit, and creditors still wont trust me to get a loan so I can go to school. In order for me to get a loan I need to make more money then I am, but the only way for me to make more money is for me to go to school. I don't want to be dependent on my parents but banks don't give students much of a choice.
Our system of money distrubution and education in this country is obsurd. We need to find away to bring attention to the students and show prove that universal education is the right way to go. Beyond Argentina, Costa Rica abolished their military totally, they have a police force that makes sure the people are protected and the rest of the money saved from military goes to their education system. It seems obsurd to me that a small country like this can thrive without a military but a big country like the US is so dependent on it.
Democracy and Socialism need to co-exist together in order for us to have free education, and in a corporation based society, it seems too far fetched.
Thanks for your commments. I think there are many people in this situation. My best friend doesn't have any help from her parents and could be imancipated, but it does not matter one bit. She still needs to show her parent's income, which is well into the 6 digit range. There is no way the government would give her money. I agree with Jason 34, a healthy balance of socialism and capitalism would be ideal. Corruption is a problem. We've sunk so much money into a failing war based on fear. That is not the way to proosper as a people.
Peace, Ben Dayton
I also just filled out my fafsa and my EFC is higher than what I would like. What is the point of filling out a student aid form if the outcome is so worthless?
Remember though, the EFC isn't set in stone, which is why it's called the estimated family contribution. They can and do change and a large EFC doesn't necessarily mean you won't qualify for at least some financial aid either. It's still a crappy system, I know.
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss
Spring 2007? Still not completely taken care of for me. Why? Because the financial aid department at my school has been giving me the run-around since about October.
"You don't qualify for Pell Grants because your EFC is too high"
Excuse me!? My mom managed a CONVINENCE STORE and it's a SINGLE PARENT home! What the HELL are you talking about?
"You just didn't."
...after about 2 weeks of fighting it out with these people, they tell me:
"Ooh, its because of the social security you listed on here"
Well I don't get that anymore, I'm 18. It was through my dad.
"Oooh, well you just need to fill out this little form, and then we can fix it."
Ok, cool. Assholes.
Then?
Hey, Uh, Have you guys done that yet?
"OH yeah it's right here."
Took her like 2 minutes to do what she needed to do. I had been waiting weeks for it.
Then.
Hey, Uh, I need more money. What about those subsidized loans, how do I get them?
"Oh, well one of your parents needs to fill out the parent plus loan."
That's not what I'm talking about, also either of my parents will get denied.
"Doesn't matter. You need to have one of them apply, and IF they get denied, then you can apply to get subsidized loans."
Are you serious? Oh my god.
So, I had my dad fill it out, the bank didn't send the letter to the school, so my dad had to send me the letter so I could take it to them. That's where I'm at right now.
Last week, I got a letter from the business office telling me if I don't pay-up they may kick me out of the dorm.
Uh, hey, idiots. I've been talking to you about this forever. I'm working on it with the Financial Aid office, remember?
"Oh yeah."
Urgh.
The financial aid department at Kaplan is equally horrible. I fax them all the paperwork, they immediately loose it. I fax it again, they loose it again. Eventually they threaten to lock me out of my classes (close my account, since I do it online). We've gone around and around over documentation since I've started with Kaplan. The school is great... the financial aid department sucks dirty ass. It took 6 months at one point for anyone to get back to me. I can't count how many messages I left them during that period. I finally complained to my academic adviser and the very next day got an email from financial aid saying they had been trying to get in touch with me and that I would be locked out of classes if I didn't get back with them. It's a total crock.
Students wouldn't feel nearly so homicidal at times if it weren't for financial aid departments at schools. The world would be a much sunnier and sane place if all financial aid departments spontaneously disappeared. When dealing with financial aid departments, you're better off doing it all yourself. You'll end up doing most of it anyway and they manage to confuse the process more often than offer any type of sensical help.
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss
Isn't bureaucracy just great? I hope everything gets worked out.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you can work it out. Check out Prosper.com, where individuals loan each other money for good causes, like getting an education.
Peace, Ben Dayton
my family's EFC was in the 20,000 dollar range as well. And even with a college fund that my parents have been funding since i was a baby, and about half my tuition covered with scholarships, I'm not sure how I'm going to pay for next year. And since I am going to be an actor, I have no way of paying back loans anytime soon. Ugh.