Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
We're European immigrants who went to tuition-free universities in our home country (still need to find room and board and pay for books - a lot of undergrads live at home if they can commute).

And yet here, we are prepared to pay for any college for our kids, as long as they have a good reason to go. One of our kids wants to go to Georgetown SFS, and it's probably 85K a year.

But we don't complain. It's a choice we made.

One thing to keep in mind is that you pay 50% tax in those European countries.

Anonymous wrote:Poor people do not have more options. Most truly poor people are not in the college pipeline.

Anonymous wrote:One reason we complain is that we are also sandwich generation families, not just donut holes. Our families made less money when we were kids, so we received financial aid in college, took out student loans, then excelled in life, got good jobs, but spent so much $$$ paying off student loans that we didn't have enough cash to save for our own kids' colleges. However, we earn enough now to receive no financial aid, and can probably only afford in-state tuition and not full-pay private tuition, so that's why we're upset. And now some of us sandwich generation have to give money to provide for our aging parents (who were not earning much $$ to begin with) all while figuring out how to pay for our kids' educations. When I went to undergrad, tuition was $17k at a top 10/15 private university. Now that tuition is $60k. It's just sad.

This is my personal story, so not everyone is in the same boat. We have saved enough in 529s for all 3 kids to go to in-state schools. We could use cash flow + 529 for one child if they get into a private worth paying full price for. This is where it's sad because we can't afford to do that for all 3, but oh well, what are the odds they'll all 3 be smart enough to get into a top 10/15 school anyway? There is no guarantee that they will have the same experiences that I had and I accept that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's because it just feels unfair to people that if they were richer or poorer, their kids might have more options. It isn't necessarily unfair, or maybe it is, but this is how people feel. I also think that many donut hole families have parents who attended top private universities at a time when they were more affordable and it is a shock that their kids can't do the same, even though they have been saving for years. We are not a donut hole family, so this is just my guess as to how people feel.

But the "poor people have more options" thing is a myth.

I think that people who complain about being a "donut hole" family are implying that things are better on the other side of the hole. But in reality, it isn't. And continuing to use the term when that's been pointed out, is basically a dog whistle, because once you know how college financial aid works, complaining about being a donut hole family means that you think that actual middle class (not DCUM middle class) and low income families don't deserve what you deserve, which is affordable college choices for their kids.

Now, if you want to complaining that EFC's are unrealistic for many families. Or that college costs too much. Yes! Those are very valid complaints, and things worth advocating around. But the idea that college is only a financial burden for some subset of kinda rich but not very rich people is simply untrue.

Anonymous wrote:I think it's because it just feels unfair to people that if they were richer or poorer, their kids might have more options. It isn't necessarily unfair, or maybe it is, but this is how people feel. I also think that many donut hole families have parents who attended top private universities at a time when they were more affordable and it is a shock that their kids can't do the same, even though they have been saving for years. We are not a donut hole family, so this is just my guess as to how people feel.

Anonymous wrote:I think it's because it just feels unfair to people that if they were richer or poorer, their kids might have more options. It isn't necessarily unfair, or maybe it is, but this is how people feel. I also think that many donut hole families have parents who attended top private universities at a time when they were more affordable and it is a shock that their kids can't do the same, even though they have been saving for years. We are not a donut hole family, so this is just my guess as to how people feel.

Anonymous wrote:Poor people do not have more options. Most truly poor people are not in the college pipeline.

Anonymous wrote:Because $25K+ a year for tuition room and board is an awful lot of money even for families that make a good living. Especially if you have multiple kids.