College-bound students run into financial wall

College-bound students run into financial wall

More families request aid, but universities and the government tighten up, jeopardizing enrollment of some students at schools where the cost of a four-year education can reach $200,000.

By Gale Holland
May 1, 2009

Krystal Rodriguez and her mother both cried with joy in April when she received her college acceptance letter from USC.

"I was shaking and I felt like throwing up, but in a good way," Krystal Rodriguez recalled.

But her parents said they were shocked during a subsequent campus visit to discover that neither the government nor the university would be offering substantial help with the $53,000 annual cost of attendance.

Although they were very proud of their daughter, the Cerritos couple told her that they didn't think they could swing the $200,000 tab for four years at the private university.

The Rodriguez family's discussion echoed a number of painful conversations this spring as recession-battered parents delivered some variation of the same message: Congratulations, you got in, but we can't afford it.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-financialaid1-2009may01,0,2573251.story

Tuition seriously needs to come down.

And the fact that Bush graduated from both Yale and Harvard should put an end to the Ivy league education superiority myth. Dubya couldn't have graduated from most junior colleges.

But employers want an actual college degree when they fill those entry level jobs.

Of course, I'm sure the old boys club have always known that they couldn't compete without the perception.

at a state university. Room and board whether in a dorm or apartment (if you're too far away to live at home) can be a major expense. And here in Washington, it takes the average student 5 years to schedule the courses required for graduation, which adds a 5th year to the total cost.