With all due respect

Because I have a blog, and feel free to rant however I want...I have decided to take full advantage of this privilege. Today's topic: financial aid. This is an issue with me because I represent the group of America least aided by financial aid: male, middle class, and white.

The recent trend in financial aid, especially aid provided by the colleges themselves, is that groups are moving away from merit-based aid and towards need-based aid. I view this as an extension of Title 9 - colleges are basically giving money to "qualified" students who are from the lower income brackets, taking aid away from students who may be (and in fact usually are) more qualified than these poorer students, but who come from middle-class or upper-class families. As usual, the wealthy have no problem dealing with this, as they can typically pay for good post-secondary education without aid.

But what about the middle class? The federal government has the FAFSA, which establishes the Expected Family Contribution, or EFC, for college education. The EFC is based upon what the government thinks the family can contribute to a student's education, not what the family is actually willing to contribute. Take my example. My father works, and earns about $90,000 a year. My mother does not work. Our expenses are low, we have a decent amount of savings, and three children at home. Our EFC is $30,000 a year. My parents have expressed a willingness to contribute about $10,000 a year. A little discrepancy between those numbers, no?

That EFC of $30,000 biases the system against me. As a member of one of the nation's largest population groups (MMW), colleges have little interest in providing me with aid. I am not poor, I am not a minority, and I am not female. My good grades and extracurricular activities are unable to overcome the enormous disadvantage that my heritage has landed me in. Essentially, I would receive more money for college if my parents made $40,000 a year and had a B- average. As it is, I apply for every grant and student loan I can, hoping somebody will value academics over how much money my parents and I have in our bank accounts. Right now I'm fighting a losing battle.