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Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

nytimes.com

51–60 of 164 posts

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#51
post #33

Actual Reason: Bloomberg is planning to announce his presidential candidacy soon.

The cynical part of me is in complete agreement. I hate that I assume ulterior motive to charity, but Bloomberg wants to be in politics, and this is a big move at the very beginning of the primary races.

It makes his perpetual low tax burden unquestionable when he releases his returns :)

Its a non-zero sum game, why worry about such binary events of completely charitable or not.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#52

I can't imagine if you have that kind of money, you wouldn't have had a team of people calculating and rationalizing every scenario for the action taken. The thing that bothers me is how universities keep raising the cost for students to have an education. Nothing seems to prevent it and everything seems like a joint effort in having the new generation be worse off by having no real spending power for years compared…

A lot of the top tier schools like Harvard provide a very fair financial aid package structure, so no, it isn't a joint effort. It is a myth that most students can't avoid high tuition costs. SUNY schools are very cheap for in state. There is always the route of spending 2 years in community college and then transferring to your state school. That is a very successful model in New Jersey.

The problem is many kids want a luxurious college lifestyle where they do a little work, play a lot of beer pong, and live in nice dorms. Our student loan structure allows for some bad actors to take advantage of this.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#53
post #2

This is a fine thing to do with $1.8B and that amount could be used in worse ways. Still: Together, the federal and state governments should make a new commitment to improving access to college and reducing the often prohibitive burdens debt places on so many students and families. There may be no better investment that we can make in the future of the American dream — and the promise of equal opportunity for all. At…

It is just insane that 1.8B should be spent on just Johns Hopkins. This doesn't sound like anywhere near the most efficient way to help the most students who are missing out on places because the institution looks at their ability to pay. Does Bloomberg have an alterior motive to limit his donations to just his Alma Mater? Does he just want a wing of the library named after him or something? I'm frustrated reading th…

I disagree. Good behavior starts at the top. When all the best universities go need-blind and start offering only need-based scholarships, the bad actors in the education system will be left out on their own and we can start dealing with them separately.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is just insane that 1.8B should be spent on just Johns Hopkins. This doesn't sound like anywhere near the most efficient way to help the most students who are missing out on places because the institution looks at their ability to pay. Does Bloomberg have an alterior motive to limit his donations to just his Alma Mater? Does he just want a wing of the library named after him or something? I'm frustrated reading th…

1.8B is not that much, really. at 50k tuition, that's only 36k people.

Thats 36k people for a year....

Also you probably need to factor in living allowance if supporting underprivileged and once you give a scholarship you're looking at a 3-6 year commitment to that person.

Plus if you want the scholarships to run in perpetuity you can only spend at a rate that keeps the endowment at certain payout rate that does not reduce its value + inflation

So at say 6% being spent a year, divided by $80k to cover tuition and living cost, average 4 year course commitment your looking at 338 new scholarships a year.

That whittles down fast doesn't it....

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#55

I can't imagine if you have that kind of money, you wouldn't have had a team of people calculating and rationalizing every scenario for the action taken. The thing that bothers me is how universities keep raising the cost for students to have an education. Nothing seems to prevent it and everything seems like a joint effort in having the new generation be worse off by having no real spending power for years compared…

A lot of the top tier schools like Harvard provide a very fair financial aid package structure, so no, it isn't a joint effort. It is a myth that most students can't avoid high tuition costs. SUNY schools are very cheap for in state. There is always the route of spending 2 years in community college and then transferring to your state school. That is a very successful model in New Jersey. The problem is many kids wan…

How very fair are these financial aid packages they offer? I went to a low tier university compared to the "elite" named ones and still think it was expensive compared to previously what my parents paid when going to school. The first years at a community college for two years before stepping into university wasn't really a well known thing like today when I started. I don't think people are living luxurious lifestyles at college unless they have rich parents. It wasn't even possible to take out loans that would cover everything if one would choose from my knowledge. Everywhere now a days for anything higher than min-wage requires a degree for an interview. I'm not even sure how med students manage to keep their mental health sane.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of the top tier schools like Harvard provide a very fair financial aid package structure, so no, it isn't a joint effort. It is a myth that most students can't avoid high tuition costs. SUNY schools are very cheap for in state. There is always the route of spending 2 years in community college and then transferring to your state school. That is a very successful model in New Jersey. The problem is many kids wan…

How very fair are these financial aid packages they offer? I went to a low tier university compared to the "elite" named ones and still think it was expensive compared to previously what my parents paid when going to school. The first years at a community college for two years before stepping into university wasn't really a well known thing like today when I started. I don't think people are living luxurious lifestyl…

>Our program requires no contribution from Harvard families with annual incomes below $65,000. About 20% of our families have no parent contribution. Families with incomes between $65,000 and $150,000 will contribute from 0-10% of their income, and those with incomes above $150,000 will be asked to pay proportionately more than 10%, based on their individual circumstances. Families at all income levels who have significant assets are asked to pay more than those in less fortunate circumstances. Home equity and retirement assets are not considered in our assessment of financial need.

https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/how-aid-works

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How very fair are these financial aid packages they offer? I went to a low tier university compared to the "elite" named ones and still think it was expensive compared to previously what my parents paid when going to school. The first years at a community college for two years before stepping into university wasn't really a well known thing like today when I started. I don't think people are living luxurious lifestyl…

>Our program requires no contribution from Harvard families with annual incomes below $65,000. About 20% of our families have no parent contribution. Families with incomes between $65,000 and $150,000 will contribute from 0-10% of their income, and those with incomes above $150,000 will be asked to pay proportionately more than 10%, based on their individual circumstances. Families at all income levels who have signi…

I don't see that as making this a very fair system. Many of my colleagues had parents refuse to pay a dime. I know they were hurt by it and some actually had to wait until they were of age to be an independent.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#59
post #8

First off, this is a great thing for Michael Bloomberg to do so props to him, but I think there needs to be a much broader discussion about moving away from college as a sort of 'eye of the needle' mechanism for upwards mobility in the United States. I'm German so my perspective may be biased, but over here you can pick up an apprenticeship, a dual university/work program and still earn comparable wages to college gr…

In Germany the vocational system is also declining. You can still have a decent job but if I had kids I would recommend them got a masters or bachelors. What Germany doesn't have is that extreme split between universities with big names and the rest.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cynical part of me is in complete agreement. I hate that I assume ulterior motive to charity, but Bloomberg wants to be in politics, and this is a big move at the very beginning of the primary races.

It makes his perpetual low tax burden unquestionable when he releases his returns :) Its a non-zero sum game, why worry about such binary events of completely charitable or not.

" It makes his perpetual low tax burden unquestionable when he releases his returns :)"

Trump has set the precedent that this is not necessary anymore.

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