I’m sorry, I recall getting vast amounts of loans from public and private institutions that I have to pay back. But I can say it’s not the govt’s job to pay for it either (via grants or whatnot). College is not a right. Many probably shouldn’t go to college who do.
And last time I checked, 99% of people in college are legal adults. Why should two other legal adults have to pay for a legal adult’s college?
So find a male student in similar straits and get married. Problem solved for both of you.
It hasn’t always been this way. When I was doing FA admin in the early 90s, you could prove yourself independent. (IIRC, you couldn’t be a dependent on anyone’s taxes, you had to have a certain level of income, you had to show that you’d been living in your own place for some amount of time, etc.)
I guess they had too many people “taking advantage” of that system. :rolleyes:
Did you not read my first post? 
Yeah, but I also see where in that first post you also say that it’s the parents’ job to pay for it. Which makes no sense if you then agree that it’s not a right and that too many people go already.
I said that was the rationale. I didn’t say I agreed with it.
It’s not anyone else’s job to pay for your college. If your parents are so inclined, and fortunate enough to have the money, they can pay your way through, but it’s just as reasonable to insist that you come up with the money for your education yourself. It’s how tons of people do it every year.
Also every year tons of money available in scholarships goes unawarded because not enough people apply. There are companies and trusts out there literally TRYING to give money away to educate people, and they can’t give it all away. How sad is that?
:rolleyes: Whatever. You didn’t say you disagreed with it, either (and stated that garnishing wages is a “bit much”. Hardly a complete disagreement with the rationale).
When I was going to college I qualified for a state scholarship that paid most of my tuition, but I still had to come up with the money for all the other expenses. My parents weren’t in much of a position to help (I’m the oldest of five children) but we still had to go fill out all that paperwork about their finances so I could qualify for a loan.
I used to haunt the financial aid office whenever things got tight to see if there was any way I could get some extra money. They had a long list of available grants we would go through to see if there were any that I was qualified for, and being amazed at the variety that were out there. I seem to remember getting a $300 Bing Crosby grant in my senior year that got me through my last few months; I have no idea now how I qualified for it, though.
I’ve been out of school for a very long time, but in my opinion you are totally correct on this. I’d much, much rather see tax dollars spent on education than on, well, just about anything else - PARTICULARLY education for people who have been out in the workforce, realize that they need more education to do what they want, and go back to school with that focus in mind.
The social benefit of that is I think very great, even taking into account that some will find ways no doubt of gaming whatever system one put on place to provide such assistance. No-one should be condemned to working at something they dislike for lack of the resources necessary to pursue education.
Why the hell should I the taxpayer have to fund a college education for anyone else? I worked my ass off in high school and college and I earned scholarships. I worked part time during school, full time in the summer, and I PAID MY OWN WAY.
Don’t get me wrong, FAFSA sucks ass and the EFC is always bullshit. However, there are folks in this country with no hope of reconciling with their successful parents. It sucks that you’re listed as a dependent but there are people in more difficult situations than you and there are enough of those people that the feds bumped you off of the super-needy list.
Again, major suckery at work but a college education is well within your grasp if you are willing to work hard. You know, like the rest of us did.
I would cheerfully pay more taxes for public education or support full privatization of public education. Any solution that results in well-paid faculty teaching America’s youth. We cannot expect success when we continue to pay a low wage for an essential job.
The solution is NOT to continue to lower the bar in public education and subsidize college for everyone.
To my mind it isn’t a question of moral right or entitlement - it is just good social policy to put tax dollars to work, to help those who wish get an education. Those with an education are far more likely to generate yet more tax dollars in the future than those without.
I paid my own way through school too - but I note that the costs of the sort of education I got (I’m a lawyer who went to the University of Toronto Law School) have increased dramatically since “my day”.
To my mind, lowering the financial bar is good policy, and has nothing to do with “lowering the bar” (i.e. academic standards). In fact, it would level the playing field, so that those with talents are not artificially held back by the necessity to work as well as succeeding in a rigourous course of education, or burdened excessively with debt. I’m a big believer that success should be personally earned, and IMHO a large financial barrier to educational success makes it all the more likely that to “succeed” you have to have mommy and daddy paying your bills.
I was in a similar situation when I went to school. My dad had been fired, and he cashed in his retirement savings to pay the bills. That counted as income on his 1040. So I didn’t qualify for grants until I turned 23 because the government figured it was my unemployed father’s responsiblity.
I was, however, offered loans. Not as good as grants, but it covered the cost of school. Now I’m paying them back for a couple *hundred *dollars per month. But consider that with a college degree your income will increase by several *thousand *dollars per month.
I think we agree for the most part. I would simply argue that a further investment of tax dollars into college education is a poor allocation of resources. Providing a person is willing to work part time and apply themselves academically, everyone has the opportunity to get a college degree. You and I are proof that it is possible, even with the rising cost of education.
I would like my taxes applied to public schools for the same reasons you have outlined. I’m with you, I just think we should focus our efforts as a nation earlier than the college level.
Nearly everyone I work with had a B.A, you’re only worth a damn at this company if you have a Masters. The kicker is that it doesn’t matter what your degree is in, just so long as you have one. I would argue that by underfunding and lowering our public education standards we have effectively raised the financial bar for everyone who wants to be successful.
Oh, I definitely agree with you on degree inflation. No question about it. Degrees have become the necessary but not sufficient condition of employment - and that sucks.
It hasn’t been like this forever. Back when I was in college (late ‘80s/early 90’s), all you had to do to be declared independent was to NOT be claimed as a dependent on your parents’ income taxes for at least two consecutive years. This was a question on the form, IIRC.
During my senior year of college, I filled out the FAFSA for the first time without being required to fill out my parent’s information. I got a Pell grant for each semester, as well as several other grants.
I’ve heard that the feds felt like people were gaming the system, and subsequently made it much more difficult to be declared independent.
People absolutely were gaming the system. There were two other questions- you couldn’t be independent if you lived with your parents or if they supported you for either of the two years. The only one people remember is the income tax one - it’s the only one that could possibly be verified.