Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 16:20     Subject: New study About Dozens of Universities Steer Low-Income Families to Debt They Can't Afford
Universities that do this are exploiting relatively unsophisticated people who have aspirations for their bright kids. I think that’s what’s most upsetting.

This expensive house is in a town and school district that we never dreamed was possible, but the bank says we can afford it. This was a common situation in 2006.

Our kids are so much smarter than we ever were. Straight-A students! We always told them the path to success is a good college. Take loans from NYU rather than going to CUNY Honors College. This is very 2026.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 15:45     Subject: New study About Dozens of Universities Steer Low-Income Families to Debt They Can't Afford
Anonymous wrote:Thanks for sharing. I was a little surprised to see USC on there. I thought they were better resourced and already popular enough to pull full pay top students.


If you go to USC and are poor and all you end up having to pay is the average cost of $23,227 in loan costs then that is a really good bargain. That is less than $6,000 a year. It is more than 90K a year for tuition, fees, room/board, etc. So over 4 years that is $360,000. Why isn't it reasonable to charge at least 1/10 of the price?



Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 15:39     Subject: New study About Dozens of Universities Steer Low-Income Families to Debt They Can't Afford
The article gives me the ick about schools sending families in poverty to parentplus loans, but with the changes to student loans from last summer, that’s likely not going to be an option for them, I also don’t like that answer as I believe the student often pays back the parentplus loan. This will limit choices.

I also don’t think it’s fair to blame this entirely on the students receiving merit awards. Many of those aren’t affluent kids, they are middle class, donut hole kids trying to afford a flagship education. The truly affluent aren’t going to schools on this list like GMU etc.

The question is, who do you want to help and how do you prioritize limited aid dollars.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 15:29     Subject: New study About Dozens of Universities Steer Low-Income Families to Debt They Can't Afford
Anonymous wrote:After working in higher ed for about 15 years, including at a top private DCUM salivates over, I came to the conclusion that, if your state has a decent flagship, that is the only school you should be looking at. Taking out loans to go to a private school that doesn't get money from the government/state lottery is usually a bad idea. At a minimum, the amounts are lower and it is unclear to me whether these are in-state or out-of-state admits.


Sure, avoid loans. But what about families that get excellent aid from institutions (often private) that get the price equivalent or below the flagship?
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 14:33     Subject: New study About Dozens of Universities Steer Low-Income Families to Debt They Can't Afford
After working in higher ed for about 15 years, including at a top private DCUM salivates over, I came to the conclusion that, if your state has a decent flagship, that is the only school you should be looking at. Taking out loans to go to a private school that doesn't get money from the government/state lottery is usually a bad idea. At a minimum, the amounts are lower and it is unclear to me whether these are in-state or out-of-state admits.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 12:47     Subject: New study About Dozens of Universities Steer Low-Income Families to Debt They Can't Afford
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Awful. The Obama Admin tried to do something about Parent Plus but were blocked by HBCU grifters. Glad to see no HBCUs on these lists though.

https://cbc.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=448


So maybe it’s not the HBCU schools that are the “grifters”.

Americans routinely take on enormous debt for medical care and education— things that many countries provide at minimal or no cost — recognizing the importance of having educated, healthy citizens.


That's because most other countries don't have a "college for all" mentality. Student aptitude is tracked early on and funneled towards trade or university accordingly (e.g. Germany) or admission is based on a single exam (e.g. East Asia).
The American college setup contains a social engineering agenda that most other countries do not flirt with.


Okay. Don’t send your kid to college then.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 12:45     Subject: New study About Dozens of Universities Steer Low-Income Families to Debt They Can't Afford
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Awful. The Obama Admin tried to do something about Parent Plus but were blocked by HBCU grifters. Glad to see no HBCUs on these lists though.

https://cbc.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=448


Obama is responsible for the student loan crisis and the absurd view that everyone deserves to go to college.


You acknowledge that maybe your kid doesn’t deserve to go to college, right?
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 12:04     Subject: Re:New study About Dozens of Universities Steer Low-Income Families to Debt They Can't Afford
Ooo let me read an article from a far right publication.

Im sure they have no agenda

/s
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 11:59     Subject: New study About Dozens of Universities Steer Low-Income Families to Debt They Can't Afford
I do think people have to invest in their education so I am not against loans. The TERMS of the loans are unconscionable with high interest rates. My DH and I both had loans with negligible rates, and they never ballooned. The horror stories now are heartbreaking.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 11:57     Subject: New study About Dozens of Universities Steer Low-Income Families to Debt They Can't Afford
Anonymous wrote:Thanks for sharing. I was a little surprised to see USC on there. I thought they were better resourced and already popular enough to pull full pay top students.


They don’t have as generous FA as other selective universities. This doesn’t surprise me at all. After reading Reddit, so many moderate-income students expressed disappointment with their aid packages.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 11:31     Subject: New study About Dozens of Universities Steer Low-Income Families to Debt They Can't Afford
Anonymous wrote:The schools on the list largely make sense. The southern schools have all seen massive tuition increases to fund their football-themed, resort level amenities. Touring Clemson and Auburn last year felt more like Disneyland than a serious university. I was surprised (and disappointed) to read about this practice at Jesuit institutions. Seems antithetical to Catholic social teaching.


You’re trying too hard to make this about “Southern football schools”. Out of 41 schools, only about 5 fit that description and maybe 10 are in the south (is GMU a “southern” school? I say no).
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 11:14     Subject: New study About Dozens of Universities Steer Low-Income Families to Debt They Can't Afford
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Awful. The Obama Admin tried to do something about Parent Plus but were blocked by HBCU grifters. Glad to see no HBCUs on these lists though.

https://cbc.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=448


So maybe it’s not the HBCU schools that are the “grifters”.

Americans routinely take on enormous debt for medical care and education— things that many countries provide at minimal or no cost — recognizing the importance of having educated, healthy citizens.


Oh there are definitely grifters at HBCUs of a particular type, although they are certainly not the only ones. And the very modest and sensible 2013 reforms to parent plus were totally derailed specifically by the HBCUs, making it basically radioactive to talk about Parent Plus reforms for a long time.


Unfortunately it took someone radioactive enough not to care about radioactive issues to push loan reform. It doesn’t help low income families to strap them with debt levels for unmarketable degrees that turn them into indentured servants postponing other steps on the financial ladder like home ownership.


Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 11:00     Subject: New study About Dozens of Universities Steer Low-Income Families to Debt They Can't Afford
A lot of this is obvious just from looking at the percentage of needs met for a particular institution. A nearby school on this list covers less than 65% of financial need on average. The way to fill the gap? Parent Plus loans.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 10:54     Subject: New study About Dozens of Universities Steer Low-Income Families to Debt They Can't Afford
Anonymous wrote:Thanks for sharing. I was a little surprised to see USC on there. I thought they were better resourced and already popular enough to pull full pay top students.


Schools like NYU and USC are very expensive, attract lots of wealthy kids (and for NYU, international kids), but aren't like Ivy+ schools that have a no-loan policy and provide generous financial aid.

They have no problem accepting poorer kids and directing them towards huge loan burdens.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 10:37     Subject: New study About Dozens of Universities Steer Low-Income Families to Debt They Can't Afford
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Awful. The Obama Admin tried to do something about Parent Plus but were blocked by HBCU grifters. Glad to see no HBCUs on these lists though.

https://cbc.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=448


So maybe it’s not the HBCU schools that are the “grifters”.

Americans routinely take on enormous debt for medical care and education— things that many countries provide at minimal or no cost — recognizing the importance of having educated, healthy citizens.


That's because most other countries don't have a "college for all" mentality. Student aptitude is tracked early on and funneled towards trade or university accordingly (e.g. Germany) or admission is based on a single exam (e.g. East Asia).
The American college setup contains a social engineering agenda that most other countries do not flirt with.[/quote]


_+1. Exactly. Why isn't anyone saying these parents should say no to taking on this debt? What about free agency? If I buy a cadillac that turns out to be a lemona and I can't afford it, that's my fault. Why do we here say "oh bad schools offering a way to pay for American education". Parents can just say "we can't afford it" as my parents did often.


+2 Parents have the responsibility to make financial decisions within their means. College costs are out of control, so our kids need a combination of merit and athletic scholarships. We know that we can't afford the full pay cost of attendance that the colleges claim we can pay.