The Frustration of Today’s College-Bound Families
Do you have a high school sophomore or junior who plans to look at colleges in the near future? If so, you may want to take the time to read the following e-mail that was sent to the staff at the college planning website Getready4college.com.
“I realize now that I did it all wrong. I bought a small house I could afford, I worked hard and went to school nights so I could get a degree and make more money. I drove older model cars. I made my mortgage payments on-time and acquired equity in my home. I put money away for my retirement. and I was completely honest and forthcoming on my financial aid forms for my daughter. And for all that I’m told that after 12 years of working hard and getting my daughter into five of the top colleges in this country (including 2 Ivies), she gets ZERO dollars to attend the schools she got accepted to. We are not rich. My wife and I make just about $125,000 per year combined, so we take home only $90,000 or so a year. So now I am supposed to donate one-half of my take-home pay ($45,000+) so my daughter can go to college? Or let her enter life with $180,000 in loans? I actually had a financial aid officer at a major Catholic college just outside Boston tell me I could take a home equity loan, or stop my 401k contributions. And meanwhile, derelicts who sat around saving nothing, not working to better themselves, not paying their mortgages, and just accumulating debt and bad habits, end up getting a free ride. Our college system is BROKEN. We are on the verge of returning back to the days when only the very rich and the occasional sponsored poor family could go to college. Our top colleges have abandoned the middle class.”
This is the typical frustration that many high school seniors and their families went through this year. Do you have a high school sophomore or junior? If so, the above story may soon be your own! Don’t let this happen to you! There are many ways to deal with colleges on their price, but you have to know the procedures and guidelines to be successful. Contact our office as soon as possible to see if we can help you avoid being “abandoned” by the colleges you choose.
College Aid Offices Told By Department of Education To Give More Help
The Department of Education issued a statement to college financial aid officers around the country urging them to give more help to students from families suffering from the recession. The following is an excerpt from the statement:
“I am writing to remind you of the authority you, as a financial aid administrator, have under the law (section 479A of the Higher Education Act) to make adjustments, on the basis of adequate documentation, and on a case-by-case basis, to address circumstances not reflected in a student’s original Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This authority is particularly important for families who may be struggling during these difficult economic times. Simply stated, most of these families do not know about their right to request that you adjust one or more of the components that determine their eligibility for financial aid. I would ask you to reach out to your students (and prospective students), particularly those who seem to have hit a rough patch, to make sure that they know there may be ways that you can help.”
However, college officials warned that while they want to give more help to people who’ve recently lost their jobs, there still isn’t enough money to give every student what he or she feels is needed.
The author of this newsletter is Chuck Reilly.
If you have any questions about the information contained in this newsletter, or any questions about college funding in general, please contact our office.
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