Financial Aid Fraud

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It might help if people understood what FA is from the standpoint of the school and why they have the program.

It appears that some think it is some sort of welfare program. It is not. It is an enrollment management tool that allows the school to fill all the seats with a class that best addresses the varied needs of all the constituencies on campus.

A "no FA approach" would produce classes that include too many kids that are going to be academic and behavioral problems (Yes, rich people do have kids with academic and social problems)

Full Pay parents really wouldn't like a school filled with only full pay kids. It has to do with the quality of the student body.

The impact on the school would be fewer top students and athletic stars whose families can't quite afford full list price. (The average FA is 50% of tuition)

It has nothing to do with the benefits of rubbing elbows with the middle class or lower middle class and everything to do with sitting next to bright, motivated kids in class. And it helps keep down the number of the "entitled" in the classes.

I really don't think this is true. These schools hold kids to the same admissions standards regardless of FA status. When the acceptance rate is close to 20%, these schools already have a talented applicant pool to choose from. Why wouldn't reducing FA actually result in a better class with families who are more invested in the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it unethical to charge different prices to different people for the same product. FA is an unfair, discriminatory program.

Do you realize how many industries charge different customers different prices?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It might help if people understood what FA is from the standpoint of the school and why they have the program.

It appears that some think it is some sort of welfare program. It is not. It is an enrollment management tool that allows the school to fill all the seats with a class that best addresses the varied needs of all the constituencies on campus.

A "no FA approach" would produce classes that include too many kids that are going to be academic and behavioral problems (Yes, rich people do have kids with academic and social problems)

Full Pay parents really wouldn't like a school filled with only full pay kids. It has to do with the quality of the student body.

The impact on the school would be fewer top students and athletic stars whose families can't quite afford full list price. (The average FA is 50% of tuition)

It has nothing to do with the benefits of rubbing elbows with the middle class or lower middle class and everything to do with sitting next to bright, motivated kids in class. And it helps keep down the number of the "entitled" in the classes.

I really don't think this is true. These schools hold kids to the same admissions standards regardless of FA status. When the acceptance rate is close to 20%, these schools already have a talented applicant pool to choose from. Why wouldn't reducing FA actually result in a better class with families who are more invested in the school?

You think large donor families are held to the same admissions standards?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it unethical to charge different prices to different people for the same product. FA is an unfair, discriminatory program.

Do you realize how many industries charge different customers different prices?

Holding annual sales and having discount stores is very different.

Schools try to collect information about their consumer and then give them a different price. It is directly discriminatory and wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It might help if people understood what FA is from the standpoint of the school and why they have the program.

It appears that some think it is some sort of welfare program. It is not. It is an enrollment management tool that allows the school to fill all the seats with a class that best addresses the varied needs of all the constituencies on campus.

A "no FA approach" would produce classes that include too many kids that are going to be academic and behavioral problems (Yes, rich people do have kids with academic and social problems)

Full Pay parents really wouldn't like a school filled with only full pay kids. It has to do with the quality of the student body.

The impact on the school would be fewer top students and athletic stars whose families can't quite afford full list price. (The average FA is 50% of tuition)

It has nothing to do with the benefits of rubbing elbows with the middle class or lower middle class and everything to do with sitting next to bright, motivated kids in class. And it helps keep down the number of the "entitled" in the classes.

I really don't think this is true. These schools hold kids to the same admissions standards regardless of FA status. When the acceptance rate is close to 20%, these schools already have a talented applicant pool to choose from. Why wouldn't reducing FA actually result in a better class with families who are more invested in the school?

You think large donor families are held to the same admissions standards?

Absolutely. Many get rejected at our school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it unethical to charge different prices to different people for the same product. FA is an unfair, discriminatory program.

Do you realize how many industries charge different customers different prices?

True. Gas stations, grocery stores, plumbers, general contractors, house cleaners, nannies, landscapers, healthcare, insurance of every variety, etc. etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it unethical to charge different prices to different people for the same product. FA is an unfair, discriminatory program.

Do you realize how many industries charge different customers different prices?

True. Gas stations, grocery stores, plumbers, general contractors, house cleaners, nannies, landscapers, healthcare, insurance of every variety, etc. etc.

That really isn’t similar at all.

Schools request a packet of information about their consumer, the parents, before deciding on a price. How is that okay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it unethical to charge different prices to different people for the same product. FA is an unfair, discriminatory program.

Do you realize how many industries charge different customers different prices?

Holding annual sales and having discount stores is very different.

Schools try to collect information about their consumer and then give them a different price. It is directly discriminatory and wrong.

Look at healthcare. Everyone pays something different. And you know the rewards programs at grocery stores? They track your data and give you individualized sales (or don’t give you sales) based on your past spending patterns. These are just two examples.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it unethical to charge different prices to different people for the same product. FA is an unfair, discriminatory program.

Do you realize how many industries charge different customers different prices?

Holding annual sales and having discount stores is very different.

Schools try to collect information about their consumer and then give them a different price. It is directly discriminatory and wrong.

Google “surveillance pricing.” Big data is putting this in every industry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it unethical to charge different prices to different people for the same product. FA is an unfair, discriminatory program.

Do you realize how many industries charge different customers different prices?

Holding annual sales and having discount stores is very different.

Schools try to collect information about their consumer and then give them a different price. It is directly discriminatory and wrong.

Look at healthcare. Everyone pays something different. And you know the rewards programs at grocery stores? They track your data and give you individualized sales (or don’t give you sales) based on your past spending patterns. These are just two examples.

That doesn’t make it right. Applying this to school tuition is especially repulsive. I could see financial aid programs being banned in the future. Their legality is dubious at best. When you think about it, just disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it unethical to charge different prices to different people for the same product. FA is an unfair, discriminatory program.

Do you realize how many industries charge different customers different prices?

Holding annual sales and having discount stores is very different.

Schools try to collect information about their consumer and then give them a different price. It is directly discriminatory and wrong.

Look at healthcare. Everyone pays something different. And you know the rewards programs at grocery stores? They track your data and give you individualized sales (or don’t give you sales) based on your past spending patterns. These are just two examples.

That doesn’t make it right. Applying this to school tuition is especially repulsive. I could see financial aid programs being banned in the future. Their legality is dubious at best. When you think about it, just disgusting.

You are trying so hard with this. Careful not to hurt yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it unethical to charge different prices to different people for the same product. FA is an unfair, discriminatory program.

Are you sending your children to a school you believe is unethical?

Why?

You should pick a different school.

It is not a single issue decision, obviously. We are working to reduce the size of the FA program.

Why is it unethical?

Obviously not unethical enough for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it unethical to charge different prices to different people for the same product. FA is an unfair, discriminatory program.

+1 this explains it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it unethical to charge different prices to different people for the same product. FA is an unfair, discriminatory program.

Are you sending your children to a school you believe is unethical?

Why?

You should pick a different school.

It is not a single issue decision, obviously. We are working to reduce the size of the FA program.

Why is it unethical?

Obviously not unethical enough for you.

So discrimination doesn't bother you?

[Anonymous]

If anything, the kids admitted full pay are academically inferior. It's 100% the case at the school my kids attend(ed). Most of the full pay and certainly the full pay plus development money kids are in the bottom 50% of the class.

The FA kids who are admitted in 9th grade who are not athletes are almost always the academic stars of the grades and the eventual Ivy admits. The schools need them to subsidize the rich lifer kids' test scores and eventual college results and in turn, the rich kids subsidize their tuition.

Certainly none of this is to a person but it is absolutely a general trend.