<p>Gee, goodschool, I thought it was diversity.</p>
<p>"You’re right, owlice. That’ll show 'em. But I have a feeling I’m not the first to finally see the light, and to refuse to support this system any longer. Then let’s see how long they last without the full payers. "</p>
<p>What, are you some major benefactor? Do you donate dorms or science buildings or something? Or are you just merely a full-pay parent? I think you’re kidding yourself that the thing rests on “mere” full-pay parents. It rests on the big time, million-dollar donors.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, at each individual school, I don’t think the thing rests on one leg. It needs the three-legged stool of full payers, financial aid, and big donors. Without any one of those, you’re going to bet a wobble.</p>
<p>“Frankly, I consider it “low-class” for one to feel entitled to something that is not theirs.”</p>
<p>Noblesse oblige! lol.</p>
<p>Are kids who’ve worked hard in school to be penalized for having “slacker parents”? That seems to be what kentuckymom is saying. Because some kids have “slacker parents,” they should not get any needs-based aid.</p>
<p>Wow.</p>
<p>Schools that need full payers are need aware.
zoosermom - I don’t think I have mentioned diversity - although I do love it.
And without sounding too socialist - I wish everybody out there a great college education with no more debt than they can handle.
Done posting on this thread but will check in on the thread later.
PEACE</p>
<p>
That is not what she’s saying. What she’s saying is that the students should be judged on their own and shouldn’t be rewarded for having slacker parents or penalized for having responsible ones.</p>
<p>
I don’t think I said you did. See when I said “I thought it was about diversity,” I was referring to myself (thus the “I”). You may not have noticed this, but the thread includes posters other than yourself.</p>
<p>^ Thought you were calling me out for originally claiming that the fin aid for low income students was used to bring economic diversity to the school - my mistake - someone did post something about diversity.
Oh yeah, now I see you’re right - there are other posters - cool.</p>
<p><<you have=“” lived=“” a=“” very=“” sheltered=“” life=“” if=“” you=“” believe=“” there=“” aren’t=“” low=“” income=“” families=“” whose=“” parents=“” are=“” slackers=“”>></you></p>
<p>Of course there are.<br>
[The</a> Official Home for Dr. Ben Carson and The Carson Scholars Fund | Carson Scholars Fund](<a href=“http://carsonscholars.org/]The”>http://carsonscholars.org/)
[Benjamin</a> Carson Biography – Academy of Achievement](<a href=“http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/car1bio-1]Benjamin”>Benjamin S. Carson, M.D. | Academy of Achievement)
and once in a while some of the rise above all of that and are granted the opportunity of a lifetime. Would you say Yale made a bad investment by ‘allowing’ this poverty stricken person to go to college?</p>
<p>
Well obviously you thought wrong. Perhaps work harder to discuss courteously rather than trying to be cute.</p>
<p>
Not at all. I think it’s great that a student should be assessed as a separate individual. Most poor people are far from slackers. Most people with money are fiscally responsible. Every, single person in each category is much more than their Adjusted Gross Income.</p>
<p>“What she’s saying is that the students should be judged on their own and shouldn’t be rewarded for having slacker parents or penalized for having responsible ones.”</p>
<p>So KMom, how do you judge whether a given student’s parents are “slackers”? There was a thread on CC once about a student whose parents both went to Princeton IIRC but had low income jobs because they taught in the inner city or something similar to that. Presumably those parents could have become i-bankers or whatever. Are they “slackers”?</p>
<p>Is it “slackerish,” by the way, for a full-pay student to major in classics where he likely can’t make a lot of money versus economics where he can make a lot of money? Is preprofessional more valuable than liberal arts?</p>
<p>zm - I know you and your husband would walk on shards of glass to do what you do for your family. I hope there is a time that your husband can cut back on his work schedule and learn to read (if that is something he would want to do)</p>
<p>zoosermom - I tried to step up to misreading your post, clearly not enough for you. I have not tried to be cute but I do enjoy taking my stand with a certain amount of lightheartedness.</p>
<p>“I wonder what my incentive is to live frugally and save for my children’s college expenses? The more I have, the more I will be expected to pay when the time comes.”</p>
<p>I get satisfaction out of doing what I consider the right thing for my children / my family, by working hard and living below my means such that I can afford full pay wherever they want to go, which is a core value for me / dh and a way to “carry on” the incredible gifts of education we were given by our parents. I don’t concern myself with whatever other people have or don’t have, or get and don’t get. Pity that’s not enough for you, KMOM.</p>
<p>Sue, what an incredibly kind thing to say. I thank you.</p>
<p>He will likely cut back, but he does work for the city, so he retires very young which is a blessing.</p>
<p>However, right now, he’s beyond grateful to be able to work so hard so our slacker-daughter can study Classics and one day curate one of the great museums as is her dream!</p>
<p>And I will continue to be a government drone, trying to make things better and tolerable in my little zone of life so my son can study politics and history (even though he is a math wiz and it’s killing me that he’s not pursuing this course of study)</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, It was I and not KMOM who pointed out that the incentive is in the wrong place.</p>
<p>We can probably safely assume that we all care about education, or at least good schools (not necessarily the same), to be on this board.</p>
<p>If I’m going to spend X dollars, why not spend it ahead of college on other educational experiences (e.g. travel) and then be poor on paper to qualify for aid. The alternative would be to scrimp and save then spend X on college itself.</p>
<p>I believe that this thread deserves some insight from an 18 year old whose parents make $9,000 below the 2008 poverty threshold.</p>
<p>Growing up I received the bare minimum. I got food on my plate every night and a bed to sleep in. On Christmas I would receieve a few toys, but nothing more. My brother was born with autism, which led to my mom unable to work, since she had to be home at all times to take care of him. My dad has been a hard worker all his life. By maximizing his skills as a contractor he has been able to provide food and shelter for my family. Now, at the age of 44, he continues to work the same amount of hours as he did when he was 20. I respect my parents for all their hard work and would never look down on them for their low income. They gave me everything in life that I have ever needed, the means to survive, and valuable life lessons. I believe that I would be a completely different person if I grew up without financial struggle. I have also had to move 11 times in my life, since contracting jobs are never steady. We had to move where the work was. </p>
<p>Now, after working my hardest through school, I will be attending a public university instate. I could have gone to an elite private school, but I did not want to obtain any debt, since I want to help my parents financially once I graduate. I receieved a good amount of government grants, since my EFC is 0. However, most of the money I will be receiving for college has come from merit scholarships, that I have earned, despite the tough times that I have had to live through.</p>
<p>I am extremely grateful for all the money that I will receive for college. This opportunity to extend my education past high school has also enabled me to provide a better life for my autistic brother as well. I plan on supporting and taking care of him when my parents are no longer around. This is not something that I have to do, but something that I feel is right. God has given us our parents, and no matter what happens they will always be our parents. I did not have the most luxurious life growing up, but I would never resent them for it, since they worked their hardest. I would never consider them “lazy” or “selfish,” as I had seen in an earlier post. </p>
<p>Thanks to my parents I would consider myself mature for my age. I know the ins and outs of money management, and I have never spent a dime on anything that did not have a reasonable purpose. I actually look foward to taking public transportation and eating peanut butter sandwiches while in college.</p>
<p>I hope that my perspective has provided some insight to this topic.</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone, and God bless!</p>