Applying for financial aid doesn’t hurt your chances of getting into college, however by applying for financial aid you essentially divulge your finances an institution of higher learning. Filling out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is akin to submitting your income tax return to the IRS. A college or university sets a predetermined threshold of income they use to determine how much a family should contribute to their tuition cost. If you are below the family contribution threshold you are eligible for financial aid, above it you less if any.
The system is well intentioned in providing worthy students of low-income families the opportunity for higher education. However, I’ve found that the same system can be used to penalize students of middle-income families by depriving them of grants and scholarships. My experience raising four children, three of who graduated from college is that the FAFSA is a statement of income and is absent of family expenses. Therefore, middle-income families who send several children to college are put in a position to accumulate significant debt.
With tuition hovering around $13,000 for public colleges and over $36,000 for private institutions, middle-income families find themselves climbing deeper into debt trying to provide their children the opportunity of a good secondary education. Additionally, a system that believes it is acceptable for young students to graduate with debt ranging anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 and upwards is outright broken.
Academia is the only enterprise on earth that analyzes financial condition by evaluating one side of the balance sheet. Sound financial principals provide that income and expenses be analyzed, however financial aid offices dispute awarding grants and scholarships because a family’s income is beyond a certain threshold, regardless if the family accumulated insurmountable debt sending several children through college.
Further, financial aid offices are oblivious to the family’s historical finances, that is, past family income. There is no consideration given to wage earners who began their career at the bottom rung of their profession, made near-minimum wage and put him or herself through college at night to get ahead, sacrificing material things along the way. What financial aid offices typically consider is income the year you are applying for grants or scholarships, period.
To exacerbate the issue, academia adheres to this process regardless of the student’s academic performance. In fact, I have a daughter whose academic performance improved each year while her financial aid was reduced until finally she was awarded nothing. I created a compelling letter to the Dean of Financial Aid that contained a graph of her GPA rising plotted against financial aid going to zero. When I spoke with the Dean, he was speechless until he finally replied, “that is our policy”. In other words, he had no defendable position.
The financial aid debacle in secondary education is complex and was created over decades, so it is unrealistic to expect it to be fixed overnight. The best a student can do is to apply to multiple sources for grants and scholorships, take advantage of student work programs such as resident assistants, ask your department heads about grants/fellowships in your program, and whatever you do, bug your financial aid office.
