Colleges Soak Poor Students to Funnel Aid to Rich

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-08/colleges-soak-poor-u-s-students-while-funneling-aid-to-rich.html

U.S. colleges such as Boston University are using financial aid to lure rich students while shortchanging the poor, forcing those most in need to take on heavy debt, a report found.

Almost two-thirds of private institutions require students from families making $30,000 or less annually to pay more than $15,000 a year, according to the report released today by the Washington-based New America Foundation.

The research analyzing U.S. Education Department data for the 2010-2011 school year undercuts the claims of many wealthy colleges that financial-aid practices make their institutions affordable, said Stephen Burd, the report’s author. He singled out schools -- including Boston University and George Washington University -- that appear especially pricey for poor families.

“Colleges are always saying how committed they are to admitting low-income students -- that they are all about equality,” Burd said in a phone interview. “This data shows there’s been a dramatic shift. The pursuit of prestige and revenue has led them to focus more on high-income students.”

[enlightenment]

1. Maybe because I haven't been up long . . .

but this is very confusing article - all over the place, frankly. It seems to be suggesting that private unis are giving oodles of dollars to rich kids at the expense of poor kids, but doesn't offer any proof of that.

The study the article is based on clearly states that it has no way of determining if that is true, either.

The bottom line seems to be that even with federal aid and institution scholarships, many lower income families cannot afford to send their children to the obscenely expensive prestigious private universities - but that's a different story (and a well-known one) from the headline of the article.

What am I missing?

[Recursion]

3. BU is a money pit. But then again it's a private school

It's a place your parents throw $200K at while you do cocaine for four years -- name me another urban university with a strong Greek system?

It also has the lowest rate of alumni giving of any major US university, as the alumni office frantically reminds me every quarter in their mailer.

[Recursion]

2. Ummm... what does the average rich student at BU pay?

I went there for grad school and it's famous for being very expensive and very stingy with financial aid. Is the claim that a rich family pays less than $23K for a year at BU? I find that very difficult to believe.

[Nikia]

4. College aid does vary considerably between colleges

I would encourage top low income students to target top schools with generous and aid packages and forget the schools that don't. As stated by the article, there are several top colleges that are very generous with need based financial aid.
As a "needy" student, I did go to the college that offered me the best aid package. It was an equivalent or better college than where I would have had to pay $10,000/year more so I didn't consider it a bad thing.

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. College is an industry. Their goal is to maximize revenue.

You want an education, go to the library. If you want a logo, go to college.