Good idea: Paying kids to save for college
Filed under: College
When I was applying for college/going through the financial aid process, i ran into a major injustice: the FAFSA formula essentially penalized me for saving dutifully as I spent my summers working, deducting my personal savings from the amount of financial aid I could receive.
I was livid: I had worked hard and scrimped on entertainment/clothing/car expenses, and it was all for nil. I would have been better off not working and spending my summers playing Playstation, and that's wrong.
So I was delighted when I saw an article in today's Springfield Republican about a program offered by the Springfield Partners for Community Action. Lower-income students who work there, save $1 thousand, and complete an eight hour course on money management are eligible to receive an additional $2 thousand in grant money for college.
This is a brilliant program, and it's amazing that nothing like this is done on a large scale. Rather than penalizing ambitious students who save, we should be rewarding them like Springfield Partners does.
One idea: every high school student should be able to save $4 thousand toward college. Those who fail to do that should receive reduced financial aid, as they have not made the commitment they are requesting of others. Students who work hard and save should not have to subsidize couch potatoes.
I was livid: I had worked hard and scrimped on entertainment/clothing/car expenses, and it was all for nil. I would have been better off not working and spending my summers playing Playstation, and that's wrong.
So I was delighted when I saw an article in today's Springfield Republican about a program offered by the Springfield Partners for Community Action. Lower-income students who work there, save $1 thousand, and complete an eight hour course on money management are eligible to receive an additional $2 thousand in grant money for college.
This is a brilliant program, and it's amazing that nothing like this is done on a large scale. Rather than penalizing ambitious students who save, we should be rewarding them like Springfield Partners does.
One idea: every high school student should be able to save $4 thousand toward college. Those who fail to do that should receive reduced financial aid, as they have not made the commitment they are requesting of others. Students who work hard and save should not have to subsidize couch potatoes.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-03-2008 @ 2:28PM
kathy said...
Couch potatoes, eh? Would love, just love, for you to enter the real world, dear. People of every age, race, economic background & years of experience are losing their jobs, even people with crappy low-paying ones! Seniors and illegals are snapping up the few low-end service & retail jobs, jobs which used to go to entry level kids such as yourself. But no more! Why don't you come to our town this summer? Population 9,000, 1/3 of which are illegals. Town consists of a Walmart, a "unisex" hair salon, a tobacco shop, a candle shop, little marketa grocery, a few gas stations, an abandoned & contaminated foundry, an abandoned "tastee treet" ice cream shop, a butcher shop & city hall. Where would you like to work, Anti-Couch Potato? And if you applied, do ya think the locals whose families have been here since 1842 would hire you?
Think before you speak.
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