Penalized for family unity
Campus Times
February 14, 1997
As a third-year University of La Verne student , the issue of financial
aid has been an ongoing one, a for my family, and unlike the award letters
I get every year, the real philosophy of financial aid is not as cut-and-dried.
Most all of us are very familiar with the fact that the cost to attend
ULV, which includes nothing but tuition, is $14,460. Because ULV is a private
institution, the school has the freedom to allocate money any which way
it wants, to whomever it wants. This usually means the average ULV student
leaves college with a bachelor's degree, as well as with a debt of around
$20,000. After all, ULV is 11th in the nation for students being the most
in debt after graduation.
Because ULV is a tuition-driven institution, over 90 percent of the
school's funding comes from tuition, meaning that enrollment is everything.
If a student attempts college, yet fails most all of his or her classes,
more often than not, the school will continue to allow the student to attend
the University, but on academic probation. This means that the student will
pile up even more debt, because it will take him or her that much longer
to graduate, yet the school still rakes in the money that the student provides.
Furthermore, ULV prides itself in not giving athletic scholarships.
However, it has time and time again been brought to public attention amongst
students that because of athletics, coaches are able to pull strings financially
for new recruits. Ask many athletes why they chose ULV and they will most
likely tell you, "they gave me the most money."
All I know is that what I get in financial aid has nothing to do with
what I am involved in or even the kind of grades I get. My award letter
is based on what the government as well as ULV considers to be the financial
needs of me and my family, financial needs the government obviously knows
nothing about.
It sickens me that all the government cares about is how much money
someone's family makes, their ethnicity and if the student comes from a
two-parent background. Many of my friends come from single-parent homes
due to divorce, and most of them get their tuition completely paid for,
with some left over. Most of them do not need jobs, and most of their parents
do not have to contribute a single cent out of their own pockets for their
child's education.
This is absurd. My parents have been married for 25 years and have three
children, one in college and two headed for college next fall. My father
works 70 hours a week to be able to afford to pay for the remainder of my
education not covered by financial aid. My mother works in his office for
free, so he does not have to pay someone else to do it. I also work, because
I have to pay for my own cost of living, books, car expenses, etc. Nowhere
in the mix do I get any financial assistance from my school or my government
because my parents make too much money, and the money I do get goes directly
to my tuition.
Some parents are getting legally separated for the sake of how it looks
on paper, and some students have resorted to getting married for the sake
of staying in school.
Correct me if I am wrong, please, but I do not see why married parents
who have raised their children with educational ideals as well as family
values supposedly prized by the government, get penalized for raising their
kids in a stable home.
Why must they pay so much for their children to attend school, when
single parents usually pay nothing? Why do students of married, middle class
parents get more loans than grants for their education? When do the rewards
come to those students who have to work to support themselves to stay in
school? Doesn't every student deserve an equal opportunity, regardless?
Again and again the answer, tragically, is no. The system is about as
realistic and fair as the price for tuition at ULV, even for parents who
"make too much," because making too much means sacrificing too
much. The only thing I continuously wonder when look into the tired eyes
of my father is exactly how much is all of it really worth?
Raechel Fittante, a junior journalism major, is editor in chief of
the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at fittante@ulvacs.ulaverne.edu.