Is there any correlation between income and merit aid?

[Anonymous]

“$400k in a high cost area with 3 kids in college (which gives you no discounts) is a big struggle to pay $80-90k/year for each kid”

Cry me a river 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“$400k in a high cost area with 3 kids in college (which gives you no discounts) is a big struggle to pay $80-90k/year for each kid”

Cry me a river 🙄

Easy to say when someone else is paying your bills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a really broken system, especially as more and more students are subsidized and the cost skyrockets for the few who are actually paying for their education.

Higher SES is held against a student at the time of application, and then the actual cost of their education can also threaten to wipe out a significant portion of their family’s wealth, especially if there are multiple kids to provide for over a 5-10 year period.

Meanwhile, another student whose education was fully subsidized by others (at a better school, mind you, often leading to more lucrative career prospects) emerges with zero debt and no reduction of their family’s wealth.

Wealth redistribution. Just call it what it is.

Call it what you want but too many people think they’re high income and years of paying for tutors and everything else has made their kid desirable for colleges. Maybe enough for admission but not enough to give merit aid. The college is evening the playing field enabling a student who is talented,driven, intelligent and has persevered through some tough stuff to compete fairly.

At the end of the four years the two students should have equal abilities to succeed.

[Anonymous]

The higher SES kid had to demonstrate more objective potential to get into the same school as the lower SES kid in the first place, though. That’s the point.

I wouldn’t argue against the lower SES kid having a lower entry hurdle AND receiving need-based aid if the bar wasn’t intentionally set higher for a higher SES kid to qualify for admissions AND merit-based aid.

Also, evening playing fields is tricky business. If we had ways to do so that truly matched actions with intended goals, I’d feel a lot better than the mostly “blind leap of faith” system that drives the college admissions process these days.

[Anonymous]

If there is a bad recession the college system is getting the inevitable technology enema and downsizing of epic proportions. The expense is more colluded and fraudulent than the NAR case by an exponential amount. The use of tax dollars and government policy to enrich the parasitic slobs of big education is grift at its peak performance. Sending young people out in the world saddled with debt and often useless degrees is immoral.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“$400k in a high cost area with 3 kids in college (which gives you no discounts) is a big struggle to pay $80-90k/year for each kid”

Cry me a river 🙄

Easy to say when someone else is paying your bills.

Nobody else is paying my bills, what are you babbling about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be nice if it was mainly need based. It's absurd for a family who makes $400-900K or more who can afford it to get aid while other kids have to struggle and take out loans or cannot attend due to cost. Or reduce the cost for everyone and make things more affordable.

$400k in a high cost area with 3 kids in college (which gives you no discounts) is a big struggle to pay $80-90k/year for each kid which is the cost of private universities/ivies. It would be well over $1 million.

But, hey, if HHI were $150k (which is a lot of $ in low cost areas where SFHs aren’t 750k-1 million +) like the DMV, those 3 kids coins go for free and come out with zero loans.

You have to remember most people weren’t making that $400k when their college kids were babies/young. The salary rose slowly over time.

Are you in lala land. Three kids is a choice and on $200k you pay for state school like the rest of us and live in a $400k house not million in dollar house. You sound entitled. We live in a crappy little house, don’t take vacations and are very careful to save for college.

I’m a NP and following since I have a 10th grader. There aren’t any 400k houses in many areas. That can’t even get you a condo here. Our 1M house is a fixer upper that we didn’t fix up. We could move way out to a less expensive area but then we either need different jobs where we wouldn’t make our salaries or have a huge commute of 1.5 hours each way with traffic. Our HHI is about 400k and it’s good to know we might skip the fafsa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be nice if it was mainly need based. It's absurd for a family who makes $400-900K or more who can afford it to get aid while other kids have to struggle and take out loans or cannot attend due to cost. Or reduce the cost for everyone and make things more affordable.

$400k in a high cost area with 3 kids in college (which gives you no discounts) is a big struggle to pay $80-90k/year for each kid which is the cost of private universities/ivies. It would be well over $1 million.

But, hey, if HHI were $150k (which is a lot of $ in low cost areas where SFHs aren’t 750k-1 million +) like the DMV, those 3 kids coins go for free and come out with zero loans.

You have to remember most people weren’t making that $400k when their college kids were babies/young. The salary rose slowly over time.

Are you in lala land. Three kids is a choice and on $200k you pay for state school like the rest of us and live in a $400k house not million in dollar house. You sound entitled. We live in a crappy little house, don’t take vacations and are very careful to save for college.

I’m a NP and following since I have a 10th grader. There aren’t any 400k houses in many areas. That can’t even get you a condo here. Our 1M house is a fixer upper that we didn’t fix up. We could move way out to a less expensive area but then we either need different jobs where we wouldn’t make our salaries or have a huge commute of 1.5 hours each way with traffic. Our HHI is about 400k and it’s good to know we might skip the fafsa.

I think that private universities cost too much. And paying 75k+ each per year for three kids assuming some overlap would be difficult, especially in high cost areas. Also, many families couldn’t save much in 529s for many reasons.

However, you can still buy a condo/SFH/townhouse under $550k in Silver Spring and parts of Takoma Park and commute under 1 hour.

You can also choose to have 1 or 2 kids (or else twins).

You can choose to send your kid to public universities or places with merit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“$400k in a high cost area with 3 kids in college (which gives you no discounts) is a big struggle to pay $80-90k/year for each kid”

Cry me a river 🙄

Easy to say when someone else is paying your bills.

Nobody else is paying my bills, what are you babbling about?

If your kid is getting need-based aid, that’s exactly what’s happening. The classmates paying rack rate are subsidizing your kid’s education. They ARE paying your bills.

You sarcastically wrote “cry me a river”, right? That’s what was responded to. Who would say that other than someone dismissing the complaint of those paying full price?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“$400k in a high cost area with 3 kids in college (which gives you no discounts) is a big struggle to pay $80-90k/year for each kid”

Cry me a river 🙄

Easy to say when someone else is paying your bills.

Nobody else is paying my bills, what are you babbling about?

If your kid is getting need-based aid, that’s exactly what’s happening. The classmates paying rack rate are subsidizing your kid’s education. They ARE paying your bills.

You sarcastically wrote “cry me a river”, right? That’s what was responded to. Who would say that other than someone dismissing the complaint of those paying full price?

bitter much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a really broken system, especially as more and more students are subsidized and the cost skyrockets for the few who are actually paying for their education.

Higher SES is held against a student at the time of application, and then the actual cost of their education can also threaten to wipe out a significant portion of their family’s wealth, especially if there are multiple kids to provide for over a 5-10 year period.

Meanwhile, another student whose education was fully subsidized by others (at a better school, mind you, often leading to more lucrative career prospects) emerges with zero debt and no reduction of their family’s wealth.

Wealth redistribution. Just call it what it is.

+1 million

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a really broken system, especially as more and more students are subsidized and the cost skyrockets for the few who are actually paying for their education.

Higher SES is held against a student at the time of application, and then the actual cost of their education can also threaten to wipe out a significant portion of their family’s wealth, especially if there are multiple kids to provide for over a 5-10 year period.

Meanwhile, another student whose education was fully subsidized by others (at a better school, mind you, often leading to more lucrative career prospects) emerges with zero debt and no reduction of their family’s wealth.

Wealth redistribution. Just call it what it is.

Fully subsidized families do not have any wealth. There is no reduction because there is nothing to give.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“$400k in a high cost area with 3 kids in college (which gives you no discounts) is a big struggle to pay $80-90k/year for each kid”

Cry me a river 🙄

Easy to say when someone else is paying your bills.

Nobody else is paying my bills, what are you babbling about?

If your kid is getting need-based aid, that’s exactly what’s happening. The classmates paying rack rate are subsidizing your kid’s education. They ARE paying your bills.

You sarcastically wrote “cry me a river”, right? That’s what was responded to. Who would say that other than someone dismissing the complaint of those paying full price?

bitter much?

Yeah, of course. Why are you unable to pay your own bills, or else send your kid to community college?

Why am I paying for your kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“$400k in a high cost area with 3 kids in college (which gives you no discounts) is a big struggle to pay $80-90k/year for each kid”

Cry me a river 🙄

Easy to say when someone else is paying your bills.

Nobody else is paying my bills, what are you babbling about?

If your kid is getting need-based aid, that’s exactly what’s happening. The classmates paying rack rate are subsidizing your kid’s education. They ARE paying your bills.

You sarcastically wrote “cry me a river”, right? That’s what was responded to. Who would say that other than someone dismissing the complaint of those paying full price?

bitter much?

Yeah, of course. Why are you unable to pay your own bills, or else send your kid to community college?

Why am I paying for your kid?

DP: Most likely, when my kid attends college, I will be "subsidizing." I am not bitter about it. I don't understand people like you. You are doing well, able to afford to pay for your kid's education, and you resent someone who doesn't have money/less financially successful. Like you want to trade places so you can pay less tuition?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a really broken system, especially as more and more students are subsidized and the cost skyrockets for the few who are actually paying for their education.

Higher SES is held against a student at the time of application, and then the actual cost of their education can also threaten to wipe out a significant portion of their family’s wealth, especially if there are multiple kids to provide for over a 5-10 year period.

Meanwhile, another student whose education was fully subsidized by others (at a better school, mind you, often leading to more lucrative career prospects) emerges with zero debt and no reduction of their family’s wealth.

Wealth redistribution. Just call it what it is.

Fully subsidized families do not have any wealth. There is no reduction because there is nothing to give.

Understood. However, the current system results in the next generation of those families undergoing transformation through this process - taking from one (the family paying retail, typically at a lesser school b/c their wealth was also held against their kid at admissions because he’s not URM or he’s from a more affluent school where the comparison to his cohort is more rigorous, etc.) and giving it to another.

The lower SES kid, at least in theory, emerges with a more lucrative future.

That’s redistribution.