College is expensive. Really, really expensive. We are all aware of this. We dole out thousands upon thousands of dollars each year and many students worry about whether or not their parents will be able to provide continuous economic support. While every single person is struggling, from the poorest to the most well-off, middle-class students are finding it increasingly difficult to afford college.
Although middle-class students are not facing poverty, they are bound by financial limitations in a way that is often overlooked. Students from the middle class often face financial constraints that prevent them from attending the school of their choice. This results in qualified students who are unable to attend UCLA.
Talking to many students, you can sense a certain tension boiling. Many of them feel that they are being neglected by the distribution of financial aid, and they want things to be fairer. One student ““ first-year environmental sciences student Hailey Denenberg ““ expressed her frustration with the current financial aid situation.
“There are a lot of people in the middle class who can afford to pay for college, but they end up suffering a lot more because it’s more of a stretch,” Denenberg said.
While many students receive need-based scholarships and grants, there are a number of people forced to survive simply off of student loans and their parent’s financial contributions. Often, unquantifiable financial situations prevent parents from meeting the Expected Family Contribution the government asks them to make. Sadly, this results in qualified students being forced to attend community colleges or cheaper alternatives. While there is nothing wrong with community colleges or other schools, UCLA is the primary choice and dream school for many students. UCLA, a public school, can be unattainable for certain students who, although smart, are not rich enough to afford tuition, but still too rich to qualify for financial assistance.
As UCLA starts to cut back on spending, the school is threatening to cut classes. With all of these cuts planned and the budget not being as high as the university had hoped we will see more cuts in scholarships, and the first to feel the effect will likely be students in the middle class. However, if the need for cuts arise and the school prioritizes correctly, they should consider budget cuts in other areas prior to decreasing classes or scholarships.
It turns out that there are still areas where there can be reallocation of funds in order to increase hope for intelligent yet less affluent students. The renovation of Pauley Pavilion seems like a bad place to spend money when the UC Board of Regents and the school are currently complaining about funding for the school and projecting class cuts and fee hikes.
According to Los Angeles Daily News, of the approximately $185 million budgeted for Pauley Pavilion, $25 million was pledged by the university. Although athletics are important to UCLA, in a period where we have cut spending on classes, spending $25 million on a renovated basketball arena seems like a bad idea. It seems that it would be similar to someone purchasing a brand new car before they feed their family.
We pay to attend UCLA, and we are footing a good part of the bill for a new stadium that many will never experience the benefits of. Almost every single person at UCLA, however, would benefit from more scholarships.
Middle-class students are faced with this financial issue. They are often overlooked students who have to choose the next-best alternative. In order to help negate this situation, we need to attempt to increase scholarship opportunities for middle-class students.
Providing assistance to those students who otherwise might not be able to attend UCLA is an important task for the university. California and UCLA have an obligation to attempt to provide the opportunity for every student to be able to attend UCLA.
Hope is not completely lost: The University of California recently implemented a new financial aid program for some middle-class students called the Blue and Gold Opportunity plan. The program is intended to pay the UC systemwide fees for students whose families earn less than $60,000 a year.
If you want more money then e-mail Feeney at dfeeney@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.