College Aid (+!!!)

PPBart · May 15, 2012

Attended the Dutchtown High School awards ceremony last night and I was blown away by the magnitude of the scholarships and financial aid packages handed out! The total $$$ in financial aid announced for 2012 DHS graduating seniors was over $3 MILLION ! The senior class has about 400 students; about half of those received some sort of recognition or award last night. My grandson was among those, and he did get a couple of (relatively tiny) scholarships -- but those will certainly come in really handy when he starts college this fall.

I guess one obvious point is that when someone says "there's just no financial aid available for my kid", they (or their kid) probably just have not put any effort into it.

topgunz1 · May 15, 2012

It is out there, you just have to work for it. If it had not been for the TOPS Program there is no way my family could have afforded college. Thanks to my parents pushing me, I was able to be the first one in my family with a college degree.

Then I pissed it all away and became a cop!

espresso · May 15, 2012

D-Town is a great school my son is a So there now. They do a good job of helping parents/kids find scholarships and schools to fit their particular field.
They have dominated a lot of the sports in that area as well as being a pipeline for Ala football unfortunately. :curse:

Captain_Morgan · May 15, 2012

TOPS was a huge help for me. I worked at least 20 hours a week during school and more when it was out, and college was still hard to afford.

Congrats to your grandson. He's going to LSU, right?

Btl_Rkt_Sci · May 15, 2012

+1. Tops, scholarships, 20+ hours a week, living with Mom, and I still managed to rack up 10k in loans.

JadeRaven · May 15, 2012

I think I had well over six figures in "scholarships" when I graduated high school. . . but a lot of that was "Oh here's $20k/year to come to our school, the bill will now only be $25k/yr instead of $45k/yr."

CrkdLtr · May 15, 2012

And for those that who can not get scholarships or grant can do like I did. I worked at jobs in which I made little more than minimum wage and went through a trade school. Once I finished that course I got a better paying job and used that extra income to put me through community college. That landed me a higher paying job that I have today. And if I so choose to I can now go back to school to further my education to a bachelors degree (up from a vo-tech certificate and associates degree) in a field of study that will advance me at my current job.

There's opportunity out there other than hand outs (good and bad kind) and student loans.

chad · May 15, 2012

My highschool class of about 39 students earned a total of about 4 million in scholarships and aid. It's out there alright.

returningliberty · May 15, 2012

It's definitely there, my girlfriend has effectively a free ride through SELU with me because of tops and other academic scholarships (she's really smart lol). It's also unfortunate.

Reason: with all the government subsidies and government secured loans, schools don't have to compete, so they can charge guys like me whatever the hell they want and they Know people will pay.

Golden-Eagle · May 15, 2012

We are constantly informed of the failures of education on Louisiana. What you witnessed last night is the norm for most of our high school graduating classes across the state. Perhaps that news is not as newsworthy. it is nice to be able to celebrate a success on our Forum. Thank you for posting and congratulations!

Captain_Morgan · May 15, 2012

GE, that's a good point. Lately, living in Baton Rouge, I've been focused on how poorly many of the public schools here are performing. But my wife and I are products of the public school system on the Northshore. There's many great public schools in the state, and LA really does get a bad rap.

Personally, I think parental influence is the most important part of education, and many of the inner city schools just don't have involved parents.

It's great news to hear stories like this. We'll probably be moving to the DHS area soon just for the schools.

JWG223 · May 15, 2012

PPBart said:
Attended the Dutchtown High School awards ceremony last night and I was blown away by the magnitude of the scholarships and financial aid packages handed out! The total $$$ in financial aid announced for 2012 DHS graduating seniors was over $3 MILLION ! The senior class has about 400 students; about half of those received some sort of recognition or award last night. My grandson was among those, and he did get a couple of (relatively tiny) scholarships -- but those will certainly come in really handy when he starts college this fall.

I guess one obvious point is that when someone says "there's just no financial aid available for my kid", they (or their kid) probably just have not put any effort into it.

I agree. LSUS offered me $1500 a semester (that about covers classes minus books) + housing allowance for 4 years (I only used 5 semesters of it), and I didn't even go to highschool here.

Really wishing I had been eligible for TOPS, but my living in another state prevented that.

JWG223 · May 15, 2012

topgunz1 said:
It is out there, you just have to work for it. If it had not been for the TOPS Program there is no way my family could have afforded college. Thanks to my parents pushing me, I was able to be the first one in my family with a college degree.

Then I pissed it all away and became a cop!

Congratulations! Same here not counting grandparents or further separation, great feeling!

Well, except I'm not in LE.

Emperor · May 15, 2012

I am questioning college as an advantage for future financial success (unless you are specialized, eg MD's, Eng., et.).

Maybe it's just me but I see intelligence levels in college graduates declining across the board, while indoctrination into stupidity is at an all time high!

You new age college guys better know how to at least drive a nail, do basic electrical wiring, run some plumbing, or be able to fix something when you leave there, cause 4 years of sociology, business, or general studies may only get you top spot at the local restaruant if you can't.

JWG223 · May 15, 2012

Emperor said:
I am questioning college as an advantage for future financial success (unless you are specialized, eg MD's, Eng., et.).

Maybe it's just me but I see intelligence levels in college graduates declining across the board, while indoctrination into stupidity is at an all time high!

You new age college guys better know how to at least drive a nail, do basic electrical wiring, run some plumbing, or be able to fix something when you leave there, cause 4 years of sociology, business, or general studies may only get you top spot at the local restaruant if you can't.

I graduated with my BSN and walked into a sustainable career that pays enough for me to accomplish what I want. However, my ability to wrench on my own cars, build simple things, etc. has been invaluable! There is more to being able to take care of yourself than a college degree and a paycheck. I see co-workers every day paying for things out of ignorance that they could handle themselves with ease.

I am sure I will do the same thing when I have a house built. I'm ashamed to say, I know little of building a house, and don't want to make mine the "project I learned on".

Anyway, my former roommate's girlfriend has a Bachelors in graphic design. She has been a waiter for all of her working life.

A college degree is worthless if you can't leverage it for a job, and I'm with you. I never understood the pursuit of a degree that couldn't be used in such a way. Further, I don't think college attendance has one bit to do with "intelligence".

I will say, though, that the only indoctrination I received in college was that it was plainly obvious that our professors were Christian and that they did subtly try to re-enforce their beliefs, and those of the other Christians in the room. Always a BIT below the threshold of stepping on the toes of "Captive audience" etc. but still there as an undercurrent, nonetheless.

asianpersuasion · May 15, 2012

Student loans suck. I pay at least $1500 a month

JWG223 · May 15, 2012

asianpersuasion said:
Student loans suck. I pay at least $1500 a month

HOLY CRAP!

How much do you owe? Is that the minimum, or are you trying to get rid of it before term?

oleheat · May 15, 2012

PPBart said:
Attended the Dutchtown High School awards ceremony last night and I was blown away by the magnitude of the scholarships and financial aid packages handed out! The total $$$ in financial aid announced for 2012 DHS graduating seniors was over $3 MILLION !

Let's not jump to any conclusions.....

Most of that $3 million was probably included in the Collins kid's signing bonus with Alabama.

Btl_Rkt_Sci · May 16, 2012

oleheat said:
Let's not jump to any conclusions.....

Most of that $3 million was probably included in the Collins kid's signing bonus with Alabama.

Good point. We had a guy that went to Westpoint (who will accept most intelligent people who want to become military officers) on a full ride. There's almost no such thing as going to Westpoint without a full ride anyway seeing as it requires on-campus housing and you're commiting to service unless you drop out. Anyhow, point is there's six figures alone.

PPBart · May 16, 2012

Emperor said:
...questioning college as an advantage for future financial success (unless you are specialized, eg MD's, Eng., et.)... better know how to at least drive a nail...

+1 !!! I was lucky to grow up on a farm with a dad who really hated to pay someone else to do anything he thought he should be able to do, and even as a little kid I was expected to help when we built/maintained a house or barn, repaired machinery and vehicles, cared for livestock, etc. We had a well-equipped workshop which I was taught to use (safely!), and those manual trade skills have served me well all my life.

As for the real value of a college degree today, I have to agree. Back in the late '60s when I started at Southeastern LA College my tuition was (I think) about $100 per semester, books were available for cheap rental, and the state even provided bus transportation to school. I lived at home, worked part time, went to school full-time and graduated with a BS four years later. I think my final semester tuition was still less than $200. I was one of the first to sign up for Army ROTC, which provided a monthly stipend of $50 and a guaranteed job upon graduation. No student loans -- never even thought about borrowing money for that. Later, my wife and I drummed into our two daughters the importance of education and getting into a good field -- both are in medical fields and quite successful. They worked hard at school and part-time jobs, and we helped get them thru advanced degrees with no debt. Now I'm hoping to help my grandson do the same.

And I have to credit the Livingston Parish school system for providing my kids with a good education and foundation for advanced learning! And Ascension Parish for doing the same for my grandson.

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