10 more colleges, universities sign on to Say Yes

Parents Forum
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<p>Yale and Brown University are among the latest colleges and universities to promise free tuition to students as part of the Say Yes to Education compact … New York City-based Say Yes announced the addition of 10 institutions on Friday.</p>

<p>Say Yes offers locally funded tuition scholarships to Buffalo and Syracuse public school students who attend a public two- or four-year college." …</p>

<p>[10</a> more colleges, universities sign on to Say Yes - WSJ.com](<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/article/AP3fda571b307d432395948c46456d682b.html]10”>http://online.wsj.com/article/AP3fda571b307d432395948c46456d682b.html)</p>

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<p>“Private institutions typically waive tuition for qualified Say Yes students whose family income is below $75,000 a year.”</p>

<p>To me, $75K seems like a high figure for a complete tuition waiver.</p>

<p>Does this mean a waiver for tuition only, with high fees and room and board charges?</p>

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<p>Compmom, I believe it is full tuition not room and board. This doesn’t seem outside of what schools like Yale and Brown do for anyone below 75K. Of course, with room and board a family is still looking at about 13 or 14 grand to attend and that can still be a struggle for families in that bracket.</p>

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<p>Cost of living in NYC is MUCH higher than most of the rest of the country.</p>

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<p>It is for Buffalo and Syracuse public school students.</p>

<p>It is not like Yale is doing anything particularly special, since its net price calculator indicates that a family with income of $75,000 will get Yale grants that are larger than Yale tuition and fees. Probably similar for the other colleges that have signed on.</p>

<p>Perhaps the main thing going in is marketing – letting lower and middle income students in Buffalo and Syracuse know that “expensive” colleges may be in reach with financial aid. That falls in line with the organization’s mission:
[Our</a> Mission | Say Yes to Education](<a href=“http://www.sayyestoeducation.org/our-mission]Our”>http://www.sayyestoeducation.org/our-mission)</p>

<p>Here is the announcement on the organization’s web site:
[SAY</a> YES TO EDUCATION ADDS 10 COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES AS PARTNERS | Say Yes to Education](<a href=“http://www.sayyestoeducation.org/news/say-yes-education-adds-10-colleges-and-universities-partners]SAY”>http://www.sayyestoeducation.org/news/say-yes-education-adds-10-colleges-and-universities-partners)</p>

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What about the students in the city between Buffalo and Syracuse - Rochester?</p>

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<p>What is the difference between Say Yes and Questbridge and need-blind FA?</p>

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<p>QuestBridge is a way for low income students to apply to a ranked list of choices with full ride financial aid / scholarships. It is binding ED if any of the choices admits the applicant.</p>

<p>Say Yes partner schools merely promise to deliver the stated amount of financial aid, which most or all of them probably do anyway through their normal financial aid policies (but being in the list makes it more obvious to applicants that the schools have relatively good financial aid).</p>

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<p>All Questbridge schools aren’t binding ED.</p>

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<p>“Say Yes offers locally funded tuition scholarships to Buffalo and Syracuse public school students who attend a public two- or four-year college.” </p>

<p>What does this mean? I’m confused about the “public” part.</p>

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<p>Why wouldn’t “public” have the usual meaning?</p>

<p>This appears to be a separate scholarship program from the private universities’ financial aid promises that are the subject of the press release.</p>

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<p>Personally, I would like to see schools throw a bone to students who fall into the " middle class " category , since they are getting squeezed a lot harder these ays</p>

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<p>I agree with the poster that says the institutions are not doing anything different, just letting lower income know that their institutions are not financially out of reach. </p>

<p>lje62 - Several of those institutions do help the “middle class” student. DS goes to Williams and she got very generous financial aid as a “middle class” student. That aid changed from year to year depending on our income. The hard part is getting admitted to Brown, Yale, Williams…</p>

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<p>I hear of this program often as I live in a Syracuse suburb where it does not apply. Locally it is often viewed more as a tool to invite middle class families to stay in the city school district, than it is as a method to assist needy students.</p>

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<p>GT that is good to know…my youngest will not be a candidate for any of those schools, not just because of academics, but because they do not offer her intended major</p>

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<p>

Hear, hear! West Virginia PROMISE, our state scholarship program, was designed to keep bright students in-state. It pays $4,750 per year for any college in the state, public or private. It’s strictly merit, there is no means test, but the Legislature is thinking of adding one, since they say it doesn’t reach enough low-income students. To qualify, students must have a 3.00 gpa on the scale used by their school and a 22 composite ACT score. Maybe my expectations are too high, but for a quasi-motivated student, regardless of income, this just isn’t that difficult, especially at some of our high schools where valedictorians and salutatorians often end up in remedial college classes. Yes, low-income students need financial help, but why shouldn’t they have to meet standards just like everyone else?</p>

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<p>That is probably the bigger problem for students from low income backgrounds (given that it is likely that these low quality high schools are in low income areas).</p>

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<p>It is. The state has taken over several of these county school systems over the past 20 years to improve the quality of education, with mixed results. In West Virginia, your best chance at a good education is not to live in a poor, rural county with one small high school.</p>