2008 Woodie Awards
Editorial
Cutting student costs
Editorial Board
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: Ed-Op
In the past few months, we've seen schools like Brown, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Penn and now Stanford, take significant steps to lower the financial burden on lower and middle class students.
Stanford recently announced that students from families who make under $100,000 per year will not pay tuition. Additionally, families whose earnings are less than $60,000 will not pay room and board either.
Brown University's recently-announced plan replaces loans with grants for students whose families make less than $100,000 per year. Families earning less than $60,000 per year will not be required to make any contribution toward their child's Brown education.
We like this trend in making quality higher education more accessible to middle and lower class Americans.
One of the problems facing Drexel's students is that many financial aid plans like FAFSA and outside scholarships do not cover financial aid beyond the fourth year. This can be a significant problem for students enrolling in Drexel's five-year program.
We're not talking about students that have failed to get enough credits to graduate in a four-year program; the five-year program at Drexel is established and open to all students upon their enrollment. We understand that the logistics of altering the FAFSA system for a small number of schools like Drexel is difficult. However, there are other solutions to help the students out.
Part of the University of Pennsylvania's "Making History" campaign includes $350 million (10 percent of the campaign's total monetary goal) to be set aside solely for helping its undergraduate students meet their financial needs. This money will go towards endowed scholarships for undergrads - money that won't have to be paid back. It would certainly be nice if, in addition to a new building every year, Drexel increased fundraising efforts to lessen students' financial burdens.
Another huge cost for students is from textbooks. The House passed the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2008 Feb. 7. One provision attempts to lower students' textbook costs by requiring schools to "disclose the International Standard Book Number and retail price information of required and recommended textbooks, related materials, and supplies for each course listed in the institution's course schedule used for pre-registration and registration purposes."
Stanford recently announced that students from families who make under $100,000 per year will not pay tuition. Additionally, families whose earnings are less than $60,000 will not pay room and board either.
Brown University's recently-announced plan replaces loans with grants for students whose families make less than $100,000 per year. Families earning less than $60,000 per year will not be required to make any contribution toward their child's Brown education.
We like this trend in making quality higher education more accessible to middle and lower class Americans.
One of the problems facing Drexel's students is that many financial aid plans like FAFSA and outside scholarships do not cover financial aid beyond the fourth year. This can be a significant problem for students enrolling in Drexel's five-year program.
We're not talking about students that have failed to get enough credits to graduate in a four-year program; the five-year program at Drexel is established and open to all students upon their enrollment. We understand that the logistics of altering the FAFSA system for a small number of schools like Drexel is difficult. However, there are other solutions to help the students out.
Part of the University of Pennsylvania's "Making History" campaign includes $350 million (10 percent of the campaign's total monetary goal) to be set aside solely for helping its undergraduate students meet their financial needs. This money will go towards endowed scholarships for undergrads - money that won't have to be paid back. It would certainly be nice if, in addition to a new building every year, Drexel increased fundraising efforts to lessen students' financial burdens.
Another huge cost for students is from textbooks. The House passed the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2008 Feb. 7. One provision attempts to lower students' textbook costs by requiring schools to "disclose the International Standard Book Number and retail price information of required and recommended textbooks, related materials, and supplies for each course listed in the institution's course schedule used for pre-registration and registration purposes."
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Darrell
posted 3/04/08 @ 11:35 AM EST
Fafsa doesn't cover past the fourth year? I haven't heard anything about this, could you please show me some source that shows that Fafsa won't cover a student's fifth year?
Thanks!
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