Here's a message from the University Office of Financial Aid and Duplicity | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The John William Pope Center for Education Policy provides a treasure trove of information suggesting the better path forward in regards to North Carolina's number one issue - public education. Public education, at all levels, requires a significant amount of funding from our state government, and all one hundred North Carolina counties, so it is essential that leaders effecting education policy get it right, and know that concerned entities, like the John William Pope Center, will be minding their progress to do so. We welcome the John William Pope Center for Education Policy to our growing readership, and expect our readers to learn all they can to do their part in this wise endeavor to better educate our People.

    The author of this post is Jane S. Shaw.


    Have a look at this "Financial Aid Offer" from a public university in the West, below. (It's genuine, but the names of the university and student have been removed.)

    If I were a parent I would look first at the bottom line, which says:

    Total Unmet Need: $0.00

    Wow! That sounds great. And look, the Estimated Family Contribution is also $0.00. What could be better?

    Unfortunately, the financial aid offer is much slimmer than 100 percent. It's 60 percent, a combination of federal and university money.

    The full cost of attendance for one year is $37,568. The university is offering $13,670, plus an opportunity to work at the university ("federal work study") for $2,000. The federal government is also providing $6,730 in grant money. In other words, the university and federal government are offering 60 percent of the cost of attendance.

    Everything else laid out on the page—although described as "Total Financial Aid Offer"—is a student loan, which must be paid back.

    Based on its filing in FAFSA (the federal government's Free Application for Federal Student Aid), the family is supposedly expected to pay nothing for college ("Estimated Family Contribution—$0.00"). But in fact, if the offer is accepted, the family will pay $15,068—40 percent of the cost of attendance, and all of that will be borrowed.

    That's for one year. For four years, the student will have to borrow over $60,000.

    This is a student with limited financial resources, as evidenced by the estimated family contribution. Yet once this student graduates, she will be starting out with her diploma and a lot of debt—about twice what the average college borrower graduates with.

    What will her chance of getting a mortgage be a few years down the road?

    And if she doesn't graduate, she will be starting out without a diploma, but with significant debt.

    One could draw many questions from this form—such as why does going to a public university cost $37,568? And why is the family "expected" to pay zero? All I want to draw from it now is the fact that our universities are blithely being deceptive in order to make families think that paying for college is a breeze.

    The facts are otherwise. Is that the way for our much-honored universities to communicate?


Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Waste of the Week: UNC-TV John William Pope Center Guest Editorial, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics Governor McCrory Honors Hispanic Heritage Month


HbAD0

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

amnesty would just encourage more illegal aliens to storm our borders
The Christmas candy was barely off the shelves when the Valentine’s candy appeared. Red and pink hearts with caramel and nut-filled chocolate goodness caught our eye. We are reminded of how we love love. Young love, especially.
far left sugar daddy has also funded anti-Israel groups and politicians in US
Be careful what you wish for, you may get it
America needs to wake up and get its priorities right
Former President Donald Trump suggested this week that if he becomes president again, he might allow Prince Harry to be deported.

HbAD1

It's a New Year, which means it's time to make resolutions — even for prominent evangelical leaders. The Babylon Bee asked the following well-known figures in the faith what they hope to accomplish in 2024:
Vice President Kamala Harris will visit a Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic, reportedly the first time a president or vice president has visited an abortion facility.
An eight-mile stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville has been temporarily closed due to a string of “human and bear interactions,” the National Parks Service announced.
University of Wisconsin tried to punish conservatives for the fact that liberals regularly commit crimes to silence opposition
most voters think EU officials not doing a good job on illegal immigration
Come from behind by GOP candidate is a blueprint to 2024

HbAD2


HbAD3

 
Back to Top