What Will Some Wealthy Parents Not Do if a Free Buck to be Made?

[Anonymous]

Will they not stoop to the low level of prostituting themselves or their family members?

ProPublica and The Wall Street Journal each detailed the efforts in separate articles after uncovering dozens of applications filed by Chicago-area parents to financially divorce themselves from their kids over the past year and a half.

As part of the strategy, wealthy parents allegedly file paperwork to transfer legal custody of their kids to other relatives, friends or even co-workers. When the transfers are complete — often during their junior or senior years of high school — students are then able to declare themselves financially independent on college applications. In one instance detailed by the Journal, a student whose parents owned a $1.2 million home only had to declare $4,200 in income from a summer job.

That student was able to obtain about $47,000 in scholarships and federal Pell grants to attend a private university that costs $65,000 per year.

The practice is legal, but the Journal notes that the Education Department is looking into the matter. The agency did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

[Anonymous]

That’s pretty disgusting.

[Anonymous]

This is appalling, and hurts those who need the aid the most.

[Anonymous]

Does no one care about ethics anymore? The schools should rescind their acceptances.

[Anonymous]

Stuff like this will make it that much harder for kids who actually don’t have parents or are independent!

[Anonymous]

To quote one poster:

"Parent’s income and assets shouldn’t determine the price of a future working adult’s college education, but that’s exactly what the aid and so-called scholarship system has produced in just the last two decades. That and exorbitant tuition costs that are not justifiable.

This is the real scam."

Yes, this.

[Anonymous]

Eh. Maybe colleges and universities should stop ripping everyone off and people would stop looking for loopholes. This one is perfectly legal until they change the law.

But people will just keep looking for more loopholes. Why should 1 family pay $60k and another family pay nothing for the same education. A college education is not an entitlement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To quote one poster:

"Parent’s income and assets shouldn’t determine the price of a future working adult’s college education, but that’s exactly what the aid and so-called scholarship system has produced in just the last two decades. That and exorbitant tuition costs that are not justifiable.

This is the real scam."

Yes, this.

wha ...? I am all for reducing college costs, but your parents should absolutely have to contribute what they can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To quote one poster:

"Parent’s income and assets shouldn’t determine the price of a future working adult’s college education, but that’s exactly what the aid and so-called scholarship system has produced in just the last two decades. That and exorbitant tuition costs that are not justifiable.

This is the real scam."

Yes, this.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Is this the same wealthy Chicago suburb where 75% of the kids have fake testing accomodations? what a bunch of grifters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eh. Maybe colleges and universities should stop ripping everyone off and people would stop looking for loopholes. This one is perfectly legal until they change the law.

But people will just keep looking for more loopholes. Why should 1 family pay $60k and another family pay nothing for the same education. A college education is not an entitlement.

I can guarantee you it's not legal, and the schools will revoke the scholarships. It's a sham transaction - the attorneys involved might even deserve to be sanctioned by the bar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To quote one poster:

"Parent’s income and assets shouldn’t determine the price of a future working adult’s college education, but that’s exactly what the aid and so-called scholarship system has produced in just the last two decades. That and exorbitant tuition costs that are not justifiable.

This is the real scam."

Yes, this.

wha ...? I am all for reducing college costs, but your parents should absolutely have to contribute what they can.

Can you put the rationale for your thinking in words, other than to use the word "absolutely"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To quote one poster:

"Parent’s income and assets shouldn’t determine the price of a future working adult’s college education, but that’s exactly what the aid and so-called scholarship system has produced in just the last two decades. That and exorbitant tuition costs that are not justifiable.

This is the real scam."

Yes, this.

Bull shit. The student takes full advantage of education in a pricey private school, private tutor for subjects if needed, expensive and select extracurriculars valued by Ivys, expensive prep for standardized scores, summer internships through parents' connections, expensive private college coach for admission applications. In other words, takes every advantage afforded by parents' wealth from birth to college admission over genuinely poor students. On top of that, resort to unethical practices described in the article to get undeserved grants and blame the institutions for helping genuinely poor people. Some posters here on also blame institutions for helping the poor people saying education is not entitlement and support legal but unethical practices. I suppose these posters don't mind their spouses having extramarital affairs because it is perfectly legal.

[Anonymous]

I wish the publications mentioned the race of the parents/students resorting to the above described practice. It will be very revealing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To quote one poster:

"Parent’s income and assets shouldn’t determine the price of a future working adult’s college education, but that’s exactly what the aid and so-called scholarship system has produced in just the last two decades. That and exorbitant tuition costs that are not justifiable.

This is the real scam."

Yes, this.

I agree.