Paying tuition is arguably one of the hardest parts of going to college.
In high school, students are often told to work hard in order to receive a merit scholarship and attend college at a reduced price. In reality, only a few lucky students are able to do so. IU provides several generous merit awards, such as the Provost scholarship, but the majority of these only cover a small percentage of full tuition.
According to the Washington Post, 57 percent of college students receive some sort of aid, but only 0.3 percent receive enough to cover tuition entirely.
Some academic programs award full tuition to their recipients, in addition to certain educational privileges like access to honors courses and other academic opportunities.
These programs, however, are often provided to wealthy, upper class students, who generally come from private high schools, according to PBS.
In preparation for college, wealthy families can afford the best educational options for their child. They can pay for private school, tutors, college counselors and advisers, along with several other resources the typical lower to middle-class family could never afford.
While natural intelligence and work ethic can be indicative of academic performance and college admission, it’s undeniable that these extra resources increase the chances of the student applying.
Poor students shouldn’t have to depend solely on their high school test scores for financial ease.
Furthermore, according to a study administered by Kaplan Test Prep, 25 percent of admissions officers at the 400 top universities admitted they “felt pressured to accept an applicant who didn’t meet [the] school’s admissions requirements because of who that applicant was connected to.”
Impoverished students shouldn’t have to work multiple jobs and amass an enormous student loan burden while rich students whose families can easily afford to pay their tuition out of pocket are benefitting from full tuition.
While some students receive help from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and acquire need-based scholarships, the large majority are left on their own, according to the Washington Post.
Through the FAFSA, universities calculate a family’s expected contribution toward tuition, but it doesn’t account for other factors apart from income, such as situational financial hardships not reflected by a W-2.
For example, parents of a disabled child might be putting the large majority of their income towards medical bills for merely keeping their child alive. This leaves little for college tuition payments.
Some families refuse to contribute to their child’s tuition at all, even if they have the financial capabilities. Personal conflicts like these can never efficiently be reflected in official documentation like a FAFSA.
Financial compensation from universities should serve the primary goal of fulfilling financial need.
It is inefficient and unfair to provide full tuition to students that don’t need it, while the majority of students are struggling to pay for their education, assuming thousands of dollars of debt in the process.
This is not a call for a change in the national education system of the United States, which, while flawed, is much more nuanced. This is a simple suggestion that IU reanalyze the distribution of its monetary resources.
All students admitted are equally deserving of an education. Scholarships should be provided only according to the financial needs of a student, providing equal opportunities and educational experiences for everyone.
