Low-income students are increasingly bypassed when colleges offer applicants financial aid, as schools compete for wealthier students who can afford rising tuition and fees, according to a public policy institute's analysis of U.S. Department of Education data.
The study by The New America Foundation said that colleges, in their quest to advance their U.S. News & World Report rankings, are directing more financial aid to high-achieving applicants in a bid to elevate the profile of their student population.
"A lot of them (colleges) go for the same students from the rich suburban schools," said Stephen Burd, the foundation's education policy analyst who studied the data.
While the Federal Govt. monitors the basis upon which Federal $$$ is awarded, it stays away (yes, even the Kenyan Socialist Obama stays out of it) from telling private institutions how to dole out their private grant money.
So they basically give it to the rich kids, in the hopes that the rich kids will start legacies there, contribute their money, hook them up, etc etc etc.
The New America Foundation analyzed net price data - the amount students paid after all grant aid was exhausted - to conclude that hundreds of colleges expect the neediest students to pay an amount equal to or even greater than their families' yearly earnings.
(ouch)
Needy students have to rely more heavily on student loans, or either drop out or take on full-time jobs, which lessens their chances of completing school.
"I fear that we're going to have more social stratification and there are going to be fewer opportunities for upward mobility," Burd said.
While the practice is more predominant in private colleges, Burd said, it is increasing in public colleges, many of which are receiving less money from cash-strapped state governments.
There is nothing illegal about this approach to doling out aid, Burd said, but it undermines the strides made in creating opportunities for the nation's needy.
So, once again, in another field, (education this time), we see an entity abiding by the law, and using their abiding by the law as moral justification for their institutional practices. And their ultimate reason for those practices in the first place: $$$$$
Why should educational institutions feel a sense of responsibility or care about social consequences? Why not just run them like a powerwashing contractor, or an aborted fetus pickup service company? I mean, fuck it. As long as it’s legal, it’s all good.
Or not. I guess I'm a lib-rul.