<p>ohiomom - </p>
<p>did you not read my post, including the “AND”, ie, meaning the families had to do ALL those things to pay their efc to U of C? of course there’s nothing wrong with mom going to work &/or the kid working (and in each of these cases i mention the kids were taking out maximum stafford loans and doing work/study), but if you do this and STILL you can’t afford your efc w/o mtging your house &/or taking out a plain old bank loan to pay your efc, then something is wrong with the picture. in one of these families the parents are borrowing $30,000/yr to pay their efc, on top of mom and the kid working, stafford loans for the kid, etc.</p>
<p>and NONE of these families has the luxury of an only child. in each case there are siblings. one boy has three sisters, all of whom are going to big state u so “the genius” can go to U of C (he really is a genius btw). imo that is bad for family dynamics, but that’s the choice they made. another boy is a freshman with two younger sibs in hs. mom can only go back to work once. how are they going to send the other two to college? or will they too be destined for big state u?</p>
<p>i have nothing against stafford loans, work study, summer jobs or mom working, but if all this is still not enuf, and if there are siblings who need to go to college, then imo you shouldn’t be borrowing another $120,000 for one child and putting the other kids and the retirement at risk.</p>
<p>that said, it is the fact that there are families who WILL take on that debt and willingly that is the disincentive for U of C to change how they do finaid.</p>