Congratulations! But Now What? A Lack of Financial Aid

It is becoming increasingly difficult to gain admittance to many California  colleges and universities. But for many students who earned the golden  ticket, a key question is arising: can they even afford to attend?

Numerous higher education institutions, public and private, are lacking  the pool of aid they once had to provide to their admitted students.  Even student loans, including once better-bet, lower-interest rate federal  programs as Stafford, are numerous percentage points higher than  home equity lines of credit. Stafford, which allows students to borrow  a maximum of $25,000 per year, carries an interest rate of nearly 7  percent, whereas the Parent  Plus is at 8.5 percent.

In a recent article, the New York Times profiles a California  high school student who's been newly admitted to UC Berkeley. Yet like  many of his peers in the current economic climate, his family is in  tough financial straits:  his laid-off father continues to hunt for jobs,  while his mother brings home adequate wages from a teaching position.

With a combined parental income of $58,000, one would think this student  would qualify for slightly more than the $218 in scholarship money he  received from the university. Maybe in the past, but now it appears  that schools' scarce resources are being spent on the most  needy students-- leaving the middle-class in a mad-dash to acquire funding.

In spite of a 10 percent tuition increase system wide, and a 7 percent rise in tuition costs for the past few years, the 10-campus system  has come up short in the financial assistance it can provide to its  students.

Some, such as the Berkeley student's younger sister, feel their so-called  safety net is to "gain admission to a wealthy, highly selective public  college hat, unlike the California system, might pay  tuition  in full."

Yes, some universities such as Stanford--falling in line with many of  the East Coast Ivys--will grant full tuition to students with families  with incomes of less than $60,000. But other well-endowed, selective  California institutions are not quite as generous to its prospective  students.

As a Los Angeles Times story points out, schools such as the private University  of Southern California are only granting full scholarships to the top  of the top applicants. With a $212,000 out-of-pocket cost for four years  of admission, even upper-middle class students are left in the dirt,  finding they can no longer borrow their way out of the situation. Free  Application for Federal Aid (FAFSA) applications increased by 20 percent--or 8.5  million more than the previous year. As students are receiving less  in loans--the upper-middle class USC admit the LA Times profiled  received a measly $5,000 a year--USC is seeing a 10 to 15 percent increase  in students requested financial aid, the article said.

Is there a solution? Maybe for resourceful, and lucky, students who  successful track down both need and merit-based scholarships devoted  to sending them to college, or into the post-high school training they  desire. Popular scholarship search engines such as Fastweb are bound to see an increase in funding seekers.  

Community colleges, which have a $20-a-unit cost, are by far the cheapest  way to go. Yet the students--especially in the midst of $340 in deferred payments from the state  and a 10 percent increase in applications--face not getting the classes  they need to later transfer or even gain their Associates degree of  choice.

The federal stimulus package carries provisions that fall in line with President  Obama's College  Affordability Plan. The  American Opportunity Tax Credit will guarantee that the first $4,000  of college--about half the cost of in-state tuition for UC students--  is free for students. He also plans to eliminate the FAFSA, replacing  it with a form to predict financial need long before one pieces together  their college application, and increase the Pell Grant to $5,400 over  the next few years.

Yet despite future plans, and a not-insignificant cost-reduction of  $4,000, most students entering college this year will be waging an uphill  battle. And, unlike in previous years, it will be less focused on passing  Physics, figuring out a major and balancing schoolwork and play than  getting to experience these things in the first place.

Rachel Stern, a graduate of UC Santa Cruz and a Bay Area-based freelance  writer, is currently trying to scrap together the funds to attend another  financial hurdle: graduate school.