Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion No Federal aid without high school diploma?

Is this really a concern for the GT? If your scores are high enough on the college entrance exams aren't you expecting to get a big chunk of aid from the university? And if that is the case you should realize that any additional aid you get from one source will often limit money from another. I know from my own experience in undergrad that when I found a scholarship from an outside source that the result was the university cut another scholarship award I had to the point that I actually ended up with less aid than if I hadn't gotten the outside scholarship... In grad school I was over funded from so many sources that more than 40% of the money I was awarded was returned to the source as it was beyond the school's official budget... I'm only saying this because there are a lot of sources of scholarships and fellowships out there and if you are a high achiever you can easily get it all paid for without accepting any government aid.

A part of me is glad that they had added this to the government rules, it should cut down on the number of poor kids that are suckered into those degree mills like University of Phoenix that simply seek to make money and rubber stamp diplomas... Though in a perfect world the would ban giving any money to students that could not achieve at least a score above the 50th percentile on a major college entrance exam, I've also known many people that got into large public universities with ACT scores between 11 and 13 (how you can score that low on a multiple choice exam boggles the mind).

That certainly wasn't the case when I was in school. I got need-based aid, and some small merit scholarships, but there was Federal grant money and student loans in my financial aid package, too. It's my understanding that the financial aid world has become more loan-based in the 20 years since then, too.

When you're going to a school where everyone is high scoring, the school doesn't pay you to go there because you're high scoring. You have to go to a school where most people aren't high scoring if you want a free ride, and that can be a hard sell if you've been waiting for 13 years to finally be around people like you.

I think the opposite is true for the elite schools:

http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/09/pf/college/no-loan_financial_aid/index.htm
No loans! Major colleges pledge aid without debt
CNN
April 9, 2010
The economic crisis may have pared school endowments and state aid to education, but many colleges say they remain committed to fully funding students' financial need.

In fact, a group of schools is pledging to do it mostly through grants and work-study programs, and not with loans.
Yale, Harvard and the University of California network are among the at least 50 colleges planning to limit or remove loans from their financial aid packages, according to a report released this week by the Institute for College Access and Success. While 50 might not seem like a lot, their student bodies represent 8% of all four-year college students in the United States.

The "Project on Student Debt" report comes in the wake of announcements from both Williams College and Dartmouth that, due to diminished endowments, they will re-introduce loans to their financial aid packages starting in the 2011-2012 school year. Both schools previously had a "no-loan policy" in offering need-based financial aid.

Schools are trying to getting away from loans in an effort to avoid saddling graduates with debt that could limit their career options and start them in a deep financial hole. So the fact that so many big schools are staying with the program is seen as good news by the institute.

...

Is the University of California still doing this? They've raised tuition over 30% in the last few years and there are plans for more hikes. It seems odd that they have enough money to even limit loans.

California's Blue + Gold Opportunity Plan
http://www.universityofcalifornia.e...inancial-aid/grants/blue-gold/index.html

requires students to

"Demonstrate income below $80,000 with financial need, as determined for federal need-based aid program."

To return to the original topic , PEG did post on their FB page the following explanation:


I don't want to be a nuisance and keep asking them for more info, but I would like to see in writing from the feds an agreement that this new regulation does not apply to early entrants.

The quote they gave you appears on page 1-7. It's treated identically to a GED.

Online education is more flexible, as students can view their lectures and tutorials anytime at any place. There are many online diploma institutes and universities which are providing chance for the student to pass their diploma or degree online. These online certifications are more cheaper than the regular one.