Dear Editor

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Dear Editor,With VCU’s enrollment at a record 31,300 students, what happens to the dropout rate? Will it reach a record high as well? Too bad they don’t report it. I have a passing suspicion that lack of financial aid causes a large proportion of the dropout rate.

Dear Editor,

With VCU’s enrollment at a record 31,300 students, what happens to the dropout rate? Will it reach a record high as well? Too bad they don’t report it. I have a passing suspicion that lack of financial aid causes a large proportion of the dropout rate. Either students can’t afford to continue, or they do poorly in school due to working too much to pay for tuition and expenses.

There are so many financial aid options out there, but so little are actually offered. And all of it is based on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which then determines your Expected Family Contribution (EFC).

How can the government possibly come up with some dazzling equation that even comes close to the actual situation? What if your family won’t contribute to your education, yet the inhumane EFC says they are expected to?

Our system responds with PLUS loan and private lenders. In my situation, my parents won’t sign for a PLUS loan, and I’m certainly not going to use a private lender. Variable interest rates and hidden fees are notorious, and if you don’t have good credit, your rates will be even higher.

Due to the lack of aid, the vile EFC has spawned an overabundance of college loan commercials. And Astrive knows what they’re talking about – no one ever gets what they need.

According to Sen. Chris Dodd’s June 2007 opening statement about student loans, private loans have grown by 1,200 percent over the past decade. And crazy enough, these sketchy, high interest-rate loans are supposed to surpass the amount that federal loans give out within the next decade. It should be the other way around. Get rid of private loans for college and expand the federal aid.

On a very minimal level, the U.S. government should provide loans to all students to cover tuition. Just like health care, I’d rather the U.S. imitate Europe – the poster boy for the ideal. If only we had the motivation to protest like the French, then maybe we would have some reform.

Working during the semester should be an oddity, if it ever happens. The summer break should be used for work, while the rest of one’s time should be spent studying. The Web site for Britain’s University of Cambridge states, “Virtually nobody gets a part-time job during term time. There really isn’t time to take up paid employment around your academic work and extra-curricular activities.”

I wonder how many VCU students have a part-time job or even a full-time job during school?

Even though Britain and many European countries are now charging students for tuition, the government covers all costs until they graduate, which is then repaid on a sliding scale based on income. What a bloody brilliant idea. Why doesn’t the United States do that? Oh yeah … the EFC.

During this decade, an estimated 2 million potential college students change their mind about attending college because they didn’t get enough aid, according to the U.S. Senate’s Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. The nemesis of education, the EFC, is at it with a vengeance.

It doesn’t stop there. Last year, as a senior at VCU, I received less than $2,000 per semester to cover all my expenses. This upcoming year, my fi nancial aid is more than $10,000 per semester. Over five times the amount! I’m actually going to get a check in the mail! The only difference between the two years? I just graduated. Therefore, I have no EFC. Hah! The FASFA finally acknowledges that I’m independent, even though the IRS has known that for four years.

Apparently, the United States is trying to fail their students. Why else wouldn’t I receive $20,000 last year? Or the year before? I’d be happy with a quarter of it. Give me $5,000 so that I could at least somewhat try to concentrate on school and not have to waste my time working to pay for it. It doesn’t make sense, but it sure was incentive to graduate so I could finally afford to go to school.

Sincerely,
Harry Rambo Holt

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