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Parents Give Up Custody of Their Kids to Get Need-Based College Financial Aid

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Re: Parents Give Up Custody of Their Kids to Get Need-Based College Financial Aid

#71

Post by dv_dt »

slg wrote: post #51
dv_dt wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Name any other industry that gets a detailed map of your finances and savings before issuing a price for their services. It's a recipe for maximal extraction.

The government. I pay more in taxes not because I use more roads, need more protection from our military, or send more kids to the local school. I pay more because the government knows I can afford it. That is how the system was designed and it is completely appropriate in my opinion. College is just a continuation of that since it is in part funded by the government. Except in recent decades we have shifted the burd…

I agree with people with more paying more into the general fund of the government. But when major parts of the US budget get deficit funded, why does higher education get individually loaded cost wise? It makes no sense, there's no real need to discourage people from getting too much education. And long term loans, are just as inflationary to issue to the economy - and when you collect the interest back long term, you're just causing a drag on economic expansion.

Re: Parents Give Up Custody of Their Kids to Get Need-Based College Financial Aid

#72

Post by asdfman123 »

TomVDB wrote: post #60
asdfman123 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can go to a community college for much less money and all kids aren't required to go to College to earn a good living Do you hear that sound? It is the sound of ten million wealthy upper middle class parents simultaneously recoiling in horror. But seriously, parents that do these sorts of things have spent the last 20 years of their life ensuring their kids stay on the maximum-privilege track, and they're not g…

My daughter decided to defer going to ‘real’ college for a year to figure out what she wanted to do: why spend all the money when you haven’t figured out things anyway? She enrolled at a highly rated local community college and signed up for some difficult classes and she was very much not impressed: the pace of instruction was very slow, the students unmotivated (not doing homework, not participating during class),…

I took Spanish at community college and it was a breeze. I rushed through all my assignments in class and spent the rest of the time spacing out. Felt like middle school all over again.

Re: Parents Give Up Custody of Their Kids to Get Need-Based College Financial Aid

#73

Post by mox1 »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #62
mox1 wrote: post #30

So it is ok for companies to do things like this with the tax laws, but not OK for individuals? There is no law against giving up custody of your child. Additionally, FAFSA says you must include parents wealth, so if you have no "parents", then you don't have to include them.

People who didn't circumvent the obvious spirit of the rules while complying with the letter of the rules are pissed off that there exist people who did just that, saved a bunch of money doing so and have an presumably clear conscience. While I understand why these people are annoyed I don't have much sympathy. Always read and understand the fine print. Always read and understand the rules. If X is allowed and doing…

Yes, but once you replace "People" with "Corporation" everyone is more or less ok with it.

I'm willing to bet 90%+ of the people in the article complaining about this own, use or like Apple products. Yet Apple does this exact same thing!

Re: Parents Give Up Custody of Their Kids to Get Need-Based College Financial Aid

#75

Post by jandrewrogers »

sudosteph wrote: post #36
ngngngng wrote: post #27

I considered doing something like this when I entered college. My parents make enough money that I didn't qualify for any aid at all, but they also wouldn't give me a penny under any circumstance. One of my dads favorite sayings was "I have to clothe your butt, not decorate it." Which is how he justified us never having clothes that fit. Anyways, I didn't end up doing this and just went without food sometimes to make…

I honestly think your situation is probably more common than the one in the article. I knew a few people in a similar situation to yours, where they could not rely on parental support after turning 18, but they were not considered legally emancipated before that point so FAFSA wasn't giving them any grants. The one kid I knew who has actually homeless due to parents kicking him out in high school, did get legally ema…

This is a common situation, I've known several people that ended up in it, myself included. Most of them ended up dropping out of college because working 40-50 hours per week at the same time as taking a full course load at university is a surefire recipe for burnout. It also makes for a pretty poor college experience generally. You can spread it out over more years by going part-time but that has its own costs.

It really is a very disadvantageous position to be in.

Re: Parents Give Up Custody of Their Kids to Get Need-Based College Financial Aid

#76

Post by wanderr »

jatsign wrote: post #31

I have 529 plans for both my kids. Lets say I save up enough for them to pay for their entire college. If an alternate family, making the same as us, saves nothing, could they qualify for aid, while we wouldn't?

It's hard to say without knowing how much you make, or what schools your kids might go to, but it is certainly possible. Many schools use FAFSA not just for federal aid but for determining how much "need" your kids have for other assistance beyond what the federal government might offer. They look at how much they think you can afford, assume willingness to take on some amount of debt, and weigh how much they actually want your kid in their school. If you make so much that the schools are going to consider you able to pay full tuition no matter what, a 529 will only help you. If you might qualify for some aid based solely on your income, it could make a difference: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-column-feldman-529/dont-l...

Re: Parents Give Up Custody of Their Kids to Get Need-Based College Financial Aid

#77

Post by goldcd »

My favourite idea for fixing the cost of tertiary education, is for universities to "buy a stake in you".

i.e. You apply for Course X and the university quotes you Y% of your income for the next Z many years. Say 15% for 15 years over say a £20k floor.

Better students get a lower percentage. Courses with poor prospects get punished with having to publish higher percentages before you get in the door. You as the student decide whether the quality of a university and their facilities, outweighs say an extra percentage etc etc.

Aligning the goals of the university and the student is beneficial in other ways as well. If 7 years down the line the field your course pointed you towards implodes and you're laid off - well the university could offer a free course/masters to retrain in a subject that'll get you back earning for them.

Re: Parents Give Up Custody of Their Kids to Get Need-Based College Financial Aid

#79

Post by dmitrygr »

goldcd wrote: post #77

My favourite idea for fixing the cost of tertiary education, is for universities to "buy a stake in you". i.e. You apply for Course X and the university quotes you Y% of your income for the next Z many years. Say 15% for 15 years over say a £20k floor. Better students get a lower percentage. Courses with poor prospects get punished with having to publish higher percentages before you get in the door. You as the stude…

This would basically make art degrees and history degrees unattainable except for the rich. Not that I mind, but that is the complaint you'll get with this system.

Re: Parents Give Up Custody of Their Kids to Get Need-Based College Financial Aid

#80

Post by dv_dt »

dragonwriter wrote: post #38
dv_dt wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Name any other industry that gets a detailed map of your finances and savings before issuing a price for their services. It's a recipe for maximal extraction.

> Name any other industry that gets a detailed map of your finances and savings before issuing a price for their services. But, higher ed doesn't. They set a price in advance, and get that information if/when you ask for a public subsidy (which the university may require you to do and to share the information as a condition of offering their own discounts, framed as self-issued subsidiies.) Pretty much every industry…

They set an extremely high price in advance and give discounts based on that information. So unless you can afford the fully fund that price out of pocket, you have to come to the table and get gov't help, which then requires the disclosure. And this is across the entire system, so it's not like you can go to a differently behaving entity.
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