"The Problem With Federal Aid"

This assignment was on whether we thought that federal aid should be changed and offered to students based on merit instead of income, or if we agreed with how it is set up now as being offered to only those who fall under the low income standards. This was my feelings on it, I wasn't sure how I was going to approach it at first, but I'm happy with it. Most of the class was in agreement on this issue, so no huge debate that night. Which was a little disappointing. I must admit that I started getting used to the excitement of watching people about to pounce on each other from across the room...

The Problem With Financial Aid

Assignment #2

A college education offers many things - new opportunities, respect, better job offers, and a chance at success. Unfortunately, a lot of the time, it includes debt. For those who can afford high tuition rates, this isn’t a problem. They make enough to send their children to school anywhere they want to go. For those in the middle and lower classes, this is a major issue. There are two options – loans or federal aid. Federal aid comes in the form of grants that are currently offered to lower income students, and require the potential receiver to fall below a certain income level. Unfortunately, this level is so low, that the majority of students are above it. This leaves the upper lower class and middle class to fend for themselves. In other words, they will inquire debt that will take years to pay off while they get a degree in order to get a job that will, hopefully, pay enough to pay those loans off.
It’s a horrible cycle that I believe needs to be changed. Why must a student be poor in order to be rewarded for wanting to further his education? If a student has worked hard, earned a moderately high GPA, and has a desire to go on to college, shouldn’t the government be rewarding that regardless of his family’s income? I believe we have somehow gotten away from the core issues, which should be to help people better their lives and feel more confident in themselves and their abilities as a person. How can we base who gets to do that solely on how much their yearly income is? We simply cannot. Otherwise, we are eliminating people from having the chance to achieve success by furthering their education.