Students face heartbreak over financial aid packages

By now, most high school seniors have heard back from the colleges to which they’ve applied. And many, unfortunately, are likely disappointed with the financial aid package they’ve received from the schools of their choice.

In many cases, students find themselves heartbroken over not being able to attend their top-choice college because their family can’t afford it. Well, not unless they want to go hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt to pay for it, that is.

Colleges should be held responsible for reducing costs

A recent Hechinger Report article summed up many families’ frustration with the college application and financial aid process well. The author, Chris Lehmann, puts the onus on colleges to stop charging such high prices and putting the “American Dream” out of reach for poorer students.

Work hard, go to college, live a meaningful life. That is what we hear promised to children all the time from President Obama to parents across America.

Colleges and universities have to be honest and fair agents in that dream. Asking students to take out $30,000 and $40,000 of debt a year for access to that dream is a betrayal of the educational values so many of us hold dear.

Avoid high debt when paying for college

We couldn’t agree more that the cost of college has gotten out of hand. And in almost all cases, we advise against going into serious debt to pay for a bachelor’s degree.

We hate to see students disappointed when they find out they can’t afford their dream college, but we believe that the consequences of high student debt are far too great to justify the enormous expense of many schools.

Fortunately, there are still some ways you can make college affordable, including starting at a community college and attending colleges that offer a great deal of merit and/or financial aid.

We help families and students find affordable colleges and figure out how to pay for it. If you’re interested in learning how we can help you, give us a call toll-free at 1-888-234-3907 or contact us using this form.