Who Really Gets the Most College Financial Aid?

News Type: Event — Seeded on Mon Oct 19, 2009 11:14 PM EDT

Article Source: US News & World Report

education, college, university, middle-class, financial-aid

PEO researcher Tom Mortenson has found that families earning less than $70,000, on average, don't receive the amount of scholarships and grants they need to meet the stingy budget formula the government uses to determine a student's "need."

Mortenson calculated the amount of grants students received and subtracted that from the costs of their colleges. When he compared that number with what the government thought the student could afford, he found some depressing results: The poorer the family, the bigger the gap between their aid and their need.

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Groups: EconVine, Parents and Parenting, Teachers, The Academe
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{"commentId":10267507,"authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}

Pamela Drew

The poorer the family, the bigger the gap between their aid and their need.

Ah, equality and opportunity in the era of deregulation. Not too long ago when the State schools and Land Grant University system supported residents rather than corporate research the gap was filled by low cost options to instate residents. Now we support Wall Street first, criminal by so many measures.

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3 votes

#1 - Sat Oct 24, 2009 7:41 PM EDT

{"commentId":10272874,"authorDomain":"freebirdsfine"}

freebirdreaming

Now look at what happened to students from families earning about $170,000 a year. The government estimates those families can afford to pay, on average, more than $36,000 a year, or about 15 percent of income, toward college. That's more than most in-state public universities, and even some private universities, charge. But some of those students nevertheless win "merit" grants or scholarships, such as Georgia's Hope Scholarship, which covers tuition at in-state public universities for any Georgia student with good grades. In fact, one study found that more than one quarter of students from families in the richest 25 percent got some state merit grants. While good students should be rewarded, no matter how wealthy (or poor) their parents are, the result is that some wealthy students are getting more aid than the government calculates they need.

uh huh................

{"commentId":10272874,"threadId":"708900","contentId":"3400436","authorDomain":"freebirdsfine"}

1 vote

#2 - Sun Oct 25, 2009 11:25 AM EDT

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AINE MACDERMOT

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Who Really Gets the Most College Financial Aid?

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