<p>My SIL was a librarian at Nanterre for many years. She was entitled to 10 weeks paid vacation! After 5, my SIL was more than ready to go back to work (and driving everybody in her family nuts because she’s not the sort to enjoy idleness), but was told she could not. If she went back to work, her staff would have to come back as well, and they were entitled to their 10 weeks vacation.<br>
It’s hard to imagine a university library closing down for 10 weeks in the US. That’s when profs do their research!</p>
<p>marite, I was curious about whether or not you found the NYTimes article to be an accurate portrayal. It rings true to me, but obviously you are a better judge.</p>
<p>“When you have found a university that offers everything you are looking for—terrific students taught by a great faculty on a beautiful campus in an exciting location—cost should not be the primary factor in your decision to apply or to attend.”</p>
<p>When reading that and knowing the reality, it is just a sales pitch to separate you from your money. ‘Your kid deserves the best, so just take $100,000 in loans’. </p>
<p>Here’s a rewrite:</p>
<p>“When you have found an automobile that offers everything you are looking for—terrific handling designed by great engineers with a beautiful design and the latest safety features - cost should not be the primary factor in your decision to obtain one.”</p>
<p>I take Coureur’s point, but I’m trying to do the math.<br>
With an income of $140k a year, the family would be in the top 15% of US households. It should be able to afford quite a bit of the COA at USC. Assuming an after-tax income of $100k, it would be left with $100k, which would still put it in the top 15% of all US households.</p>
<p>Midmo: Nanterre is perhaps the least attractive of the various campuses of the Universite de Paris system. My brother took his math degree there in the 1960s when it was overrun with drug dealers openly selling drugs in the crowded hallways. It’s improved since then, but it is still in a sorry shape. My SIL’s experience dates from the 1990s.</p>
<p>the problem with socialism is that everyone believes they are going to be the beneficiaries of all the largesse to be paid by “others” for having the gaul to work hard and save. The parents fail the children by not teaching them to take responsibility for themselves and for making thier own lives happen.</p>
<p>Here’s a thought: school a gives you a merit scholarship. School a runs out of money and can no longer offer you that scholarship? Now what. </p>
<p>I’m going to sound older than I really am when I say this, but my parents taught me NEVER to rely on anyone else for my financial well-being. I actually had to take a year off school in my state school education (back when it was affordable), in order to be able to pay the bills. Could my parents have paid? Absolutely. Did I wish they would at the time? 100%! I screamed “no fair” and went and got that horrible job, not the unpaid prestigious internship, and left every night smelling like grease. </p>
<p>We are doing our children no favors to teach them that others will pay thier way. We really aren’t.</p>
<p>And that is why we are in the financial mess in this country. It extended to everything, cars, houses, things and bling along with education. Just take out loans and get what you “deserve”. Or the money comes from “somewhere else” like the government. Never occurred to these folks that money has to come from themselves. </p>
<p>marite, depending on where you live and how large your family is $140, 00 may not be enough to cover a private school education if you have not saved for it. As others have said, there are alternatives.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the surprise parents are faced with when their darling starts college. They’ve had these kids for 18 years. Who were they thinking were going to pay the costs? If you can’t afford to send your kids to college by saving up for it, then have them attend a school that will give them merit aid. If they can’t get merit aid, then try cc for two years first. Hope and Lifetime Learning credits should cover that. If you don’t get those credits due to income limitations, then you should have been able to save. </p>
<p>Running a financial aid calculator first? That means you’re still depending on others to finance your child’s education. What happened to financing your own children’s education? Why are children entitled to something parents can’t provide?</p>
<p>3bm103, I think the recession and stock market tanking hit some people at a bad time. Yes, I think people should have money needed within 5 years in short term investments, but lets not blame them. But I would have thought by December the panic would have set in and parents would have then been telling kids to apply to more state schools, privates a step down with good aid, etc.</p>
<p>Or really nice vacation or fancy cars. Or designer clothing or antique furniture. Or braces, summer camps, salon haircuts, jewelry or a host of other things teenagers want.</p>
<p>I would expect that on a $140k income, the family would have been saving for college! I also live in an expensive area, and we began saving as soon as our kids were born.</p>
<p>The cost of living in CA is absurd. It has the highest taxes of any state in the country - LA has over %10 sales taxes. Small family homes - 1500 sq feet - STILL cost over $400,000 around almost any city. It bugs me when income alone is brought up out of context to the state in which the person lives. The cost of living here far exceeds any slightly higher income level.</p>
<p>USC’s literature, in several other places, states they will try to help you meet the difference between your EFC and tuition. They print the full cost of attending all over the place. The one sited sentence is not the only reference to Financial Aid in their literature. They expect some measure of parental saving and planning, obviously. That woman’s statement was ridiculous.</p>
<p>You can go to a UC school for about $10,000. Our “Cal State” system is even less. I think one problem with our country is this entitlement expectation – which opens up an entire new political debate I don’t feel like adressing…</p>
<p>don’t cry too many tears for the young lady. For those outside of SoCal, Gretchen Whitney is arguably one of the top two public magnets in SoCal. 99.99999% of its students go to four year Unis, and more than an handful to HYPS every year; plenty to USC… Thus, as any kid at that school KNOWS, USC is test score happy, and if you want a scholarship, ace the psat. Voila, free money, (practically) regardless of gpa.</p>
<p>I’m guessing another instance of a journalist looking for material.</p>
<p>BigG: “Students are only entitled to an education that matches their intellectual capabilities in civilized nations.” Wonder if I can make this work for me? I went to UCDavis grad school and became a professional winemaker. But much as the media portrays this work as a kind of artform, technical employees aren’t highly paid. But I REALLY know how to evaluate great wine. So guys like me should be drinking the $100/bottle stuff, and Wall Street Bigshots should be drinking Ripple. Let’s get “Civilized”!!!</p>
<p>A college education as is health care is NOT a guaranteed right by the constitution. It will cost me $100,000 to send my 2 kids to college next year…but this is my choice! I could have them both in State schools for 1/4 the price and not have to take a second mortgage out on my home or skip any vacations. Just like any person who can’t or won’t pay for premium health insurance and therefore will not be treated by most top doctors, students whose parents can’t or don’t want to pay for an elite college eduction must seek the colleges they are willing to pay for. If you can’t afford a luxury car you just don’t buy one…no one should depend on the government to give them a college education.</p>
<p>I also suspect that some parents don’t feel the need to plan on how to pay for college being they believe their child is so brilliant that schools will be falling over themselves to offer full rides.</p>