Financial Package from Skidmore

dphdad
Wed, 25 Apr 2007 10:54:46 +0000

I know how you feel. We’ve been at the mercy of financial aid’s decisions at Mount Holyoke for 4 years and are now facing 4 years at Skidmore. You feel you’d like to earn more to get out of that “edge of desperation” feeling, but the next year the aid goes down to compensate for your earnings. You hate to see your children building up debt that will limit their choices later.

Maybe a good approach is to let the debt pile up, but keep them focused on internships that will help them get decent incomes right after graduation. It’s a shame to pay so much for the school and have them spending their time earning 7.50 an hour in a dining hall. I’m no financial expert, I’m afraid, but that’s how it looks to me. The hard part is making the financial situation real for the student, so she’s not stunned with the real world when it hits on graduation.