collegestudentHere’s an interesting article posted on MSN…

 

A new study by Sallie Mae found that 36 percent of students from wealthy families received scholarships averaging $10,213 for the school year just ended, while 35 percent of students from families earning less than $35,000 a year received scholarships worth an average of $7,237.

 

And a study released in May by the New America Foundation analyzed federal data on what students pay out of pocket for college, and found that the share of students receiving merit aid more than doubled, from 8 percent to 18 percent, at public colleges between 1995–1996 and 2007–2008. At private colleges, that share rose from 24 percent to 44 percent –and at all colleges, the share of students receiving aid based on need barely changed.

 

 

“With their relentless pursuit of prestige and revenue, the nation’s public and private four-year colleges and universities are in danger of shutting down what has long been a pathway to the middle class,” wrote Stephen Burd, author of the New America study.

 

Why is this happening? For starters, colleges are in a perpetual race to rise in published rankings. Second tier schools are using offers of aid as lures for highly qualified students who might not otherwise attend – even if those students don’t really need the money.

 

Many colleges are also constantly striving to maximize their revenue, and to that end, some give preference to wealthy applicants. The New America study found that “10 percent of college admissions directors at four-year colleges (and nearly 20 percent of those at private liberal arts colleges) reported that they give affluent students a significant leg up in the admissions process.”

 

Grants and scholarships covered 37 percent of low income students’ college costs in the 2012-2013 school year, down from 42 percent in 2008-2009, according to Sallie Mae. But middle income students increased the share of funding they got from grants and scholarships, and use of grants and scholarships by wealthy students was essentially unchanged.

 

 

Ironically, this isn’t a big surprise.  Most ivy league and private colleges strive off of their affiliations. They have to keep a reputation of being the best, having the most outstanding students, and most influential families supporting their institution. So, these statistics are not surprising at all. Systematically, middle-to-lower class families are being backed into a corner that pushes them into more financial hardships. If a student can not obtain grants and other forms of financial aid, they have to take out a student loan. And, we all know how long it takes and how stressful it is to have that burden on your back.

 

Simply put…the registration rates are falling and dropout rates are increasing because parents can’t afford to send their child to school.  Hopefully, the Obama administration will look into this issue and come up with some type of reform.