COLLEGE GUIDE

A Financial Earthquake

Harvard dramatically overhauled its aid rules. Other colleges had to follow to compete for top students. How to make sense of it all.

By Arian Campo-Flores | NEWSWEEK
Published Aug 9, 2008
Aug. 18-25, 2008 issue

« Return to Article

Discuss

Member Comments

  • Posted By: rosh @ 09/29/2008 9:49:24 AM

    I want to study in america for the master of scients and for that i don't have money. So i need help.

  • Posted By: mrs1229 @ 08/26/2008 11:50:50 PM

    Wow somebody's angry. Lol. Envy the Ivy-leagers much? I wonder. Relax it's really not that serious. Yeah some people with inherited wealth get a lot of unfair advantages of the rest of the world, but don't worry they'll eventually blow their money and churn out useless children that have been taught that the way of life is to ride on mommy and daddy's coat tails. That's when things equalize. When the useless fall short and the hard workers with vision make it.

  • Posted By: heytonester @ 08/21/2008 12:32:03 PM

    kittymalicious, as your name implies, I'm positive that you're not one of the "best" students who've attended one of the (overrated) Ivies. Great things happen? Right. My cousins attended Ivies, and I haven't seen anything "impressive" from them. Also, a book is a book. How else are those Brown students using it? Are they using it to clean their asses with it or to argue who's smarter? No, books are for reading, so what other ways can they be used?

    • Posted By: kittymalicious @ 08/21/2008 11:50:41 PM

      No, I don't attend an Ivy--I'm not a fan of the east cost for the most part. I attend Stanford University. The handle is from high school and I keep it for sentimental value. But clearly you've got some issues of your own--stooping to swearing and attacking my internet handle? Sad. And do I sense a little jealousy over your cousins' alma mater? I think so. You should get over your complex about not being able to attend an Ivy before you go around bashing them.

      If you can't tell from experience in even the most basic high school classroom that people get more or less mileage out of the same books depending on who they are, how academic they are, and how open to the experience they are, then you're deluding yourself. Also, I'm going to guess you weren't one of the students struggling to find a valuable academic experience in a classroom full of mediocrity. If you think the expectations for analysis of a given book are the same at Brown as they are in your honors class, then I'm glad that I won't find you in any of my classrooms any time soon. No matter what school you're in, if your level of performance hasn't improved since high school, maybe college isn't the best option for you. However, I go to school with people who inspire me every day with their abilities--with Olympic level athletes and academics who have revolutionized their field of study, singular thinkers and creators that get more out of the same "book" than you or I could get on the umpteenth reading. Again, if you don't have the capacity to understand the difference, then it really doesn't surprise me that you aren't able to get to this level and enjoy it.

      • Posted By: heytonester @ 08/22/2008 9:31:40 AM

        Also, I proved my point that you inexplicably dumb. Stanford is an Ivy. I knew lots of idiots attend Ivies.

      • Posted By: heytonester @ 08/22/2008 9:28:39 AM

        I'd rather be a transvestite socialite looking like a hot mess while flashing my nether regions to a sea of media than be in the same vicinity of stuck-up, dumbfounded losers like you (who, by the way, tend to look like Beavis & Butthead). You: "I smarter than yous." Person: "No's. I smart. You stupid." You: "I attend Ivy." Person: "Zhut Upp, Stupid."

      • Posted By: heytonester @ 08/22/2008 9:18:01 AM

        Do you think I care about attending an Ivy? Yeah, so improve your grammar, then we can talk because it seems that idiots attend Ivies (you, point proven). Also, you don't know me, so how do you know I'm jealous of my cousins? It's a fact that they haven't found a cure for AIDS or boast about their intellect or what dorks they happen to be. (I'm guessin' your one, too.) Your retort would be, "But I intelligent. I at Stanford." So what are the great things you've done? You know, to change this country and this world?

  • Posted By: heytonester @ 08/17/2008 2:26:03 PM

    Harvard and other Ivy League institutions are overrated. You learn the same concepts (for whatever your learning) wherever you go. For example, the book I used for my honors course in HIGH SCHOOL was the same book my cousin used at BROWN. Besides, what dictates a good education? Their endowment, their name brand, their exclusivity? Also, the U.S. runs on the vast majority, the people who didn't attend the Ivies.

    • Posted By: kittymalicious @ 08/20/2008 10:01:02 PM

      What dictates a good education is the caliber of your peers--are you implying that the students at Brown covered the "book [you] used for [your] honors course in HIGH SCHOOL" the same way you did? Because I'm going to bet against that. Sure, some people get into these universities based on their family name or athletics, but others get in because they are the best students of the national (and sometimes international) high school crop and when you let the best work with the best, great things can happen.

      Additionally, although this may not be addressing education itself, a degree from these universities is almost a guarantee of a lucrative career. I've seen recruitors' tactics in a mixed room of Ivy League and state school applicants and it's pretty brutal.

  • Posted By: RKBessmer @ 08/15/2008 5:26:18 PM

    I'm glad to read the Ivy's are expanding their financial assistance to those of us who aren't either poor or rich. But I have to say, "What took them so long?"

    Six years ago, when our son was looking for a small, private liberal arts college. We looked at several, including the Maryland university system's small honors college, St. Mary's. All except St. Mary's published annual costs exceeding $30,000, which were beyond what we could afford. Nevertheless, we went ahead. Our son was accepted at each of the four schools he applied to. To our great relief, one of the colleges offered a four year assistance program that made that dreamed-of small private liberal arts education possible.

    Skip ahead to June, 4 plus years later. Our son graduated,with honors, with degrees in education, economics, and history from Cornell College of Mount Vernon, Iowa. Maybe that's where the Ivy's got the idea?

  • Posted By: mockswede @ 08/15/2008 7:35:40 AM

    I can only say that for Harvard it is ALL the students. If you can get in, they want you to go. Now, they want to remove the unknowns of how much it will cost by institution of the 0 - 10% and 10% ranges of family income for the $60 - 120K and the $120-200K ranges, respectively. There are some minor adjustments from 'family income' - adding back retirement contributions, adding back IRA contributions, adding back rental property depreciation. Stuff that is reasonable and expected.

  • Posted By: mockswede @ 08/15/2008 7:33:14 AM

    Can only say that for Harvard it is ALL the students. If you can get in, they want you to go. Now, they want to remove the unknowns of how much it will cost by institution the 0 - 10% and 10% of family income for the $60 - 120K and the $120-200K ranges, respectively. There are some minor adjustments from 'family income' - adding back retirement contributions, adding back IRA contributions, adding back rental property depreciation. Stuff that is reasonable and expected.

  • Posted By: mahoneycharles @ 08/14/2008 11:05:50 AM

    The graph of "Cost of attendance by family income" was fascinating. I would like to see the data re: actual number of students benefiting from this "incentive(?)". On the graph printed, it appears that choosing a prestigious "private" over one's state public university would be a "no brainer" for students from families of average means. However, I would love to see the actual numbers of how many students are actually benefiting.

Reply

Report Abuse

Enter comments if any for reporting abuse