Should financial aid in private school be stricter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Independent school’s bring in who they want. They aren’t getting scammed.

Yes. The only one scammed are middle income families subsidizing other middle income families through financial aid.

If that’s how you feel, find a different school. Who knowingly allows themselves to be scammed?

If you don’t feel like providing financial aid to low income families, maybe you should reconsider naming your school inclusive, and perhaps calling it elitist. I think that’s perfectly fine. What is weird is to be in an elitist school that wants to present itself
As progressive.

The reality is that the schools want to generate money. Say a school has two candidates with identical profiles to choose from, one needs 50% aid, and the other needs 100% aid. Which one do you think will get the nod?

I would also like to see aid given to the ones that need it the most. That is something that could be specified when a donation is made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Independent school’s bring in who they want. They aren’t getting scammed.

Yes. The only one scammed are middle income families subsidizing other middle income families through financial aid.

If that’s how you feel, find a different school. Who knowingly allows themselves to be scammed?

If you don’t feel like providing financial aid to low income families, maybe you should reconsider naming your school inclusive, and perhaps calling it elitist. I think that’s perfectly fine. What is weird is to be in an elitist school that wants to present itself
As progressive.

The reality is that the schools want to generate money. Say a school has two candidates with identical profiles to choose from, one needs 50% aid, and the other needs 100% aid. Which one do you think will get the nod?

I would also like to see aid given to the ones that need it the most. That is something that could be specified when a donation is made.

I like both of your points, and appreciate that you don’t engage in a vitriolic response.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is something else.

It’s very revealing about how parents think about inclusion. And how upper middle class families feel entitled to financial aid.

Let's get real: This thread is a poster child of the seething elitism that permeates at least the striver subculture in NOVA. They want to be the lords of their newfound elite fiefdom, didn't you hear they "made it" y'all, and they are obnoxiously rude to anybody they perceive as earning less HHI than them, like middle class parents, and wish to trash and exclude them like a school bully. It's very high school. But, they post a meme once a year about caring for the poors or whatever is fashionable to try to cloak the stench of their bully poo - like spraying secret deodorant on pits without showering a month. Nope, you still stink as a human being.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is something else.

It’s very revealing about how parents think about inclusion. And how upper middle class families feel entitled to financial aid.

Let's get real: This thread is a poster child of the seething elitism that permeates at least the striver subculture in NOVA. They want to be the lords of their newfound elite fiefdom, didn't you hear they "made it" y'all, and they are obnoxiously rude to anybody they perceive as earning less HHI than them, like middle class parents, and wish to trash and exclude them like a school bully. It's very high school. But, they post a meme once a year about caring for the poors or whatever is fashionable to try to cloak the stench of their bully poo - like spraying secret deodorant on pits without showering a month. Nope, you still stink as a human being.

I think you’re misunderstanding - if FA was more strict, actual low income families wouldn’t be affected because they would still qualify. So saying that FA should be stricter isn’t about keeping actual low income families out of schools. The people who would be affected by more strict FA are the ones who are questionably receiving it - which based on how badly some of you don’t want this topic explored must be a lot of people on here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is something else.

It’s very revealing about how parents think about inclusion. And how upper middle class families feel entitled to financial aid.

Let's get real: This thread is a poster child of the seething elitism that permeates at least the striver subculture in NOVA. They want to be the lords of their newfound elite fiefdom, didn't you hear they "made it" y'all, and they are obnoxiously rude to anybody they perceive as earning less HHI than them, like middle class parents, and wish to trash and exclude them like a school bully. It's very high school. But, they post a meme once a year about caring for the poors or whatever is fashionable to try to cloak the stench of their bully poo - like spraying secret deodorant on pits without showering a month. Nope, you still stink as a human being.

I think you’re misunderstanding - if FA was more strict, actual low income families wouldn’t be affected because they would still qualify. So saying that FA should be stricter isn’t about keeping actual low income families out of schools. The people who would be affected by more strict FA are the ones who are questionably receiving it - which based on how badly some of you don’t want this topic explored must be a lot of people on here.

+1

[Anonymous]

What do people consider low income, lower middle class, middle class, upper middle class, and upper class by DC income standards? I think I know where our family falls — and, yes, we receive financial aid for our 1 kid — but really have no idea how we compare to others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do people consider low income, lower middle class, middle class, upper middle class, and upper class by DC income standards? I think I know where our family falls — and, yes, we receive financial aid for our 1 kid — but really have no idea how we compare to others.

+1 In order for this discussion to be meaningful you have to attach some numbers to what it means to be UMC, MC, LMC, LI specific to the DMV. I honestly don’t know what those numbers are.

[Anonymous]

In Maret schools the numbers are pretty transparent:

34 % of financial aid to families earning 150k or less

31% of financial to families earning between 150k and 250k

And 34% to families earning more than 250k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Maret schools the numbers are pretty transparent:

34 % of financial aid to families earning 150k or less

31% of financial to families earning between 150k and 250k

And 34% to families earning more than 250k

These are all low income categories. Under $500k/yr is low income in the DC area. We are fine providing them with financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In Maret schools the numbers are pretty transparent:

34 % of financial aid to families earning 150k or less

31% of financial to families earning between 150k and 250k

And 34% to families earning more than 250k

These are all low income categories. Under $500k/yr is low income in the DC area. We are fine providing them with financial aid.

I am sorry for families earning under 500k. Maybe they can also check for food stamps in this website:

https://dhs.dc.gov/service/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do not feed the troll

Yes, saying that financial aid for low income families is trolling.

"saying that financial aid for low income families" is factually incorrect. Financial aid is for whomever the school decides to give it to. It is a private institution.

I have more problems with Trump giving executive orders to cancel DEI in profitable public companies that just so happen to be federal contractors. Similar to private schools, they should be allowed to do whatever they want with their internal programs.

Sure. I also think it’s ok to say that financial aid is not going to families in need. I don’t see anything wrong in having full disclosure.

No private institution is required to give full public disclosure. You are not entitled to it. It is, however, very entitled of you to think that you are though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People with ability to pay who game the system are not a reason to ban middle class families who cannot afford full pay from financial aid.

And most "poor" families don't even bother applying - would you? There's a lot of incidental costs involved with private school - the uniforms, aftercare, hot lunches, special lunches, the billion special outfits day, like hey wear your favorite football jersey this week, baseball next week, fave green pants, orange shirt, colonial costume, etc etc. The classist vibe. I don't think DD's grade has any poor families at all.

Yes we have to subsidize middle class families so they can cover their incidentals like the bmw, trips to Europe, the mortgage, etc etc

If this is the way you feel, why the heck are you participating in a system clearly against your values?! You're a total hypocrite!

[Anonymous]

Our income is in the 350k range in Chevy Chase. We own our (small) home, drive old not fancy cars, and have modest savings for retirement/college as part of our investment portfolio. We do not qualify for aid at our school. I wish we did because given the cost of living here (and college expenses on the horizon), private is a stretch. That’s a choice we make and feel good about spending our money this way. I don’t really know who gets what at our school but I trust the administration to make decisions for our community (that’s not groupthink btw) and I do know there are a couple of full scholarships set aside for families who need that. Mostly the FA (as I understand it from talking with the friends who are on the board) is small amounts to many families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not a one-size-fits-all situation. In the Cleveland area, a family earning $136K a year would almost never qualify for aid from a Catholic high school—that’s considered upper-middle class there. Tuition is probably around $11K to $25K, and homes are far more affordable; you can buy a nice house for $200K or less.

In contrast, in the D.C. area, $136K is more of a middle-class income. Catholic high school tuition can run anywhere from $20K to $40K, and a modest townhouse might cost $350K or more. If a family earns $136K, has one kid, lives in a $350K townhouse, and the school charges $27K in tuition, I’d absolutely want them to receive aid. It’s all relative to cost of living.

I agree with your statement. Let me tell you what is the issue with an example with a concrete school and publicly available data (so parents from private schools don’t go bananas).

In Maret only 34 percent of the financial aid goes to families with income of 150k or less. So your example falls in that category which I think it’s fair. I don’t feel comfortable, specially with the 34 percent of financial aid that goes to families earning 250k or more. And that’s why I raise the issue if financial aid could be a bit stricter. I personally think that it should stop at an income grater than 150k.

If a really nice family with 4 kids earns 300k, you don't think they should get a break on tuition? Tuition at Maret is about 50k. With 4 kid they would pay 200k in after tax money. There is zero possibility of them being able to afford the school. Personally, I think larger families add to the cultural fabric of the school and increase diversity. Not everyone needs to come from a UMC family with 2 parents, 2 kids and a dog. Larger families, are part of the diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do not feed the troll

Yes, saying that financial aid for low income families is trolling.

"saying that financial aid for low income families" is factually incorrect. Financial aid is for whomever the school decides to give it to. It is a private institution.

I have more problems with in Trump giving executive orders to cancel DEI in profitable public companies that just so happen to be federal contractors. Similar to private schools, they should be allowed to do whatever they want with their internal programs.

Sure. I also think it’s ok to say that financial aid is not going to families in need. I don’t see anything wrong in having full disclosure.

No private institution is required to give full public disclosure. You are not entitled to it. It is, however, very entitled of you to think that you are though.

Maret discloses it. What’s wrong with that? What’s incorrect about requesting transparent information? Of course, unless you want to hide something.