Boston Globe-Article About Merit Aid

calmom
Mon, 12 Mar 2007 03:32:14 +0000

That’s why I said the comment was “technically” incorrect – I just wanted to make it clear that need-based aid has its limits as well. Keep in mind that there may be many needy students who have difficulty balancing courseload with work, may have learning disabilities, or may simply suffer from lack of adequate prep from their weaker public high schools and may have difficulty at some point with that requirement. They could very well find themselves needing to repeat courses to graduate on an extended 5 year schedule after a time they have exhausted their eligibility for need based aid. That was part of the reason my son left his first college – he was still in good academic standing, but because of an issue with one of his classes he would probably have needed an extra semester to graduate; his college was verrry expensive and promised need-based aid for only 4 years. He had only taken “time off” – when I saw his transcript I told him he couldn’t go back to that school in any case, because of finances – I mean, I couldn’t have afforded to pay out 2 more years of what we owed after the need-based aid, knowing that he would still be short of needed credits to graduate.

Again – need based aid is great – it isn’t the panacea that is being portrayed though. My son now has great grades at his current college, and is applying for a merit-based scholarship (also requiring need) for next year – 45% of the kids at his college are Pell-eligible and the school simply doesn’t have the funds available to meet everyone’s need with grant aid. Heck,that school doesn’t even have the funds available to keep paying its own faculty – a lot of layoff notices have gone out this year.

And my example of the divorced parent is merely one of many different circumstances that put truly needy kids out of the running. My son did not qualify for any financial aid this past year because after working full time the past few years, he had accumulated about $10K in savings and had a tax return showing about $25K in earnings – but because he was under age 24, he was viewed as a dependent, and my income/earnings was weighed in, and he was given no allowance whatsoever for his living expenses. His share of the EFC was well above the $10K he had saved (around $14K or so). (And let’s see anyone manage to save more on a $25K/income, living on their own). At the same time his sister – who had no moneyof her own but my support – qualified for a Pell grant.

I think about how many poor and low income students there must be who simply make the decision to defer college for 2 or 3 years after high school graduation so they can work to earn money, and then turn around and discover that their income puts them out of the running for aid. It’s not just that their parent’s income is counted in – it’s also that they don’t qualify for any of the allowances that at least provide basic living expenses. So the need-based aid system penalizes kids for working and earning… when the most natural thing for a kid with financial need to want to do is to get a job. I wonder how many simply do so without realizing the negative effects: for example, suppose a kid decides to live at home, attend the local community college, and work half-time during the year and full time over the summer? Two years down the line the kid is ready to transfer and in for the rude awakening that his earnings and savings have driven his EFC sky high.