Squeezed Out: Georgetown Student Thinks The Middle-Class Has It The Worst in College Funding

As higher-income students maintain, and continue to expand, their admissions advantage and higher-ed institutions react by reaching out to low-income students—often with an emphasis on first-generation college students—it’s those in the middle that feel the heat.

The article fails to acknowledge the problems that the lower income bracket still have while trying to attend those top tier private schools. When the schools cost in excess of $40,000/year, and the maximum Perkins/Stafford loan combination is $10,500, another loan, such as a private loan, must come into play. To get a private loan, you need a credit-worthy co-signer, and as a low income student, you often have no such person available. The middle class tend to have more of these credit-worthy co-signers available, so it’s not quite as hard to afford the high prices when they can take out a private loan for it. This is the real issue that needs to be addressed: students who have no co-signers. It doesn’t matter what income bracket such a student is from, they’re still not going to be able to afford a top tier private college without such loans.

My suggestion? In the long run, higher education must be free across state borders (Hey, the EU can do it, why can't we?). In the interim we must enact legislation preventing loan corporations from denying undergraduate students who have no credit-worthy co-signer. It's a simple matter, really, because the system is already in place - that's how Stafford loans work. We just need to remove the outdated caps on the Stafford loan system and voila: college funding solved for millions of American students. Make sure to let your Congressman know that this is a top issue in his or her district.