Where I grew up no one had braces - not even on the radar! I knew some kids with some really unfortunate teeth. My own kid’s teeth were a mess - he actually got braces in 2nd grade and didn’t get them off until 8th.
My point was more that it seems these parents are making decisions without keeping in mind that they also have another child.
$17M as an endowment is pretty low. YOU might think the school should give out more in aid to the student in the story, but the school made no promise to do that an accepts the students to the school based on the application, not the need for FA.
Hey, if a school wants to give FA to every student, great. If a school wants to give all students a free education like Berea or Alice Lloyd, great. Even Berea keeps some kids out because they aren’t needy enough! But you as an applicant can’t tell the school how to spend its money. If the business decision is to build a new gym to attract even more full pay students, that’s up to the school. Many of the things the schools have to spend money on are required by the federal government to continue to receive federal funds - Title IX administrators, mental health services, employee benefits, counselors, etc.
This kid didn’t have to go to an OOS art school. Sometimes the major is just not offered at an affordable school and you just have to change your major.
I haven’t seen a lot of preaching about what they should have done in the past, only about the choices they are making despite that.
I was raised (and raise my kids) that if you can’t afford it, you don’t get it. Plain and simple. It’s why my son drives a car 7 years older than he is and I have duct tape repaired more things than you can possibly imagine. If we naively applied to schools thinking it was going to be 15K because that’s what the NPC said and what we felt we could afford and it came back over 30K, the school would immediately be off the table as an option. That’s not “holier than thou”, that’s the truth. There wouldn’t be a figuring out how to make it work, it just would not be an option. About 2/3rds of the schools on DS’s list didn’t make it past the initial scrutiny of the NPC.
It’s hard for me to imagine being in this position though because I’m a big planner. I can’t fathom having one’s head in the sand for 18 years when all you hear in the media is about the rising costs of college and the student loan crisis. How could it be a surprise? To me, that’s almost as bad as retiring with no savings and no plan and just crossing your fingers…but I guess that happens too.
Thanks for posting that, @twoinanddone. $17,000,000 endowment translates to $850,000/year (in order to preserve the fund). Using only the full time undergrad enrollment at MassArt, that averages a whopping $425/student each year. Not such a huge amount when you break it down.
I know it’s not the topic, but: please do get your kids braces. Even if there’s another major tradeoff (unless it’s even more critical.)
I’ve been in a WORLD of hurt from not having a palatal expander/braces when I needed it. I know my case is particularly bad, but please… braces are NOT just cosmetic. Not having orthodontic treatment early enough has affected my all-around health. I don’t breathe right. I don’t sleep right. I can’t eat right. I couldn’t floss my teeth properly because my teeth were so crowded that they would SHRED. FLOSS.
A lot of the procedures I’ve needed done as an adult could have been avoided with braces + an expander as a kid. It would’ve been expensive then… but let me tell you, it’s 10x more expensive now, 10x more painful now, and 10x slower now.
And I’m only 22.
Get. your. kids. orthodontic. treatment. (Unless you truly cannot afford it, in which case, god bless.)
It is a public college, which means that its primary mission is helping in-state students. There is pretty decent aide for MA students. But exactly why should the residents of MA subsidize students from Maine? Why should the college dip into its endowment for OOS students, unless they are so good that the college desperately wants them to attend?
The student got $10,000 from the college. That’s most of tuition+fees for a MA resident. Why should this student get more than a resident of MA would get?
The college charges $13,700 per student for in-state students. That doesn’t cover the cost of teaching. However, they get appropriations from the state to pay for these students. Again, why should the parents expect the state of Massachusetts to pay for their kids?
The parents are being disingenuous, and even a bit entitled, if they claim that they believed that a public college of a another state would or even should meet their full need.
And the beat goes on. Have a good day everybody.
“My main point was that, given the little we know from the article, a little less preaching and “holier than tho” would be the order of the day. I often wonder reading some posts, how many are quietly shills or have a conflict of interest, or if the main goal is good old fashioned shadenfruede. If you expect others to come to you for your expertise and advise, assuming we are all doing our level best is probably a good starting position to take.”
Since this thread was started by referring to an article in the NYTs none of the advice given was for the benefit of the people in the article. Any advice given was more of the “be aware” type of advice to those who might be in or soon be in similar situations. The article was primarily a point of reference. The people in the article seemed to believe that the FAFSA EFC actually should be an indication of what they might expect to pay and were surprised, disappointed, and seemingly a bit bitter that it wasn’t . To all those parents who aren’t aware it isn’t! I agree we can’t know the entire situation. The FAFSA and even the CSS profile will not seek to delve into a much of a families circumstances. Mostly it seeks to understand the families income and non retirement assets and base federal aid on this information. What we can say with a degree of confidence is that it is important to know what you are willing to pay then make your decisions accordingly. You can only choose based on your current circumstances, what you did in the past cannot be undone. Many times in CC we see parents and students who in March are shocked and surprised that the school they were sure their student was entitled to was unaffordable. This article was another opportunity for some to make others aware of some of the misconceptions concerning FA and college costs. I