Due to budget cuts, middle-class Texas families will no longer be eligible to receive some of the grants previously provided to them by Texas to help them pay for college. Six programs that were found to be unsustainable or ineffective started being cut in 2011. This year, two more programs–the B-On-Time program and The Top Ten Percent Scholarships–will be axed. These programs gave financial aid to families making more than $60,000 a year. Texas has, however, increased the budgets for many college aid programs for low-income families.
The program cuts are upsetting to some higher education leaders who wonder if middle-class families are being “left behind.” From the Texas Tribune:
“We do a great job of taking care of poor kids,” said Raymund Paredes, commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, “but I think we need to take a look at middle class families.”
Also not happy about the loss of financial aid is Debra Spencer of Lubbock:
As a self-proclaimed member of the lower middle class, Lubbock resident Debra Spencer knew that paying for her kids’ college would be a struggle. This year, however, that struggle has grown far beyond her expectations.
The state is phasing out the biggest source of aid her daughter received when she enrolled in Wayland Baptist University three years ago. That means her son will probably have to rely entirely on federal loans when he shows up at the same school this fall. Spencer said her kids don’t qualify for the other state-run programs.
“We really don’t have the money to start paying on these loans,” said Spencer, whose income comes from freelance bookkeeping work and her husband’s musical instrument repair business. “We are worried about saving for retirement.”
And now you are thinking, “Okay, FR. Where are you going with all of this?” And to you, my faithful readers, I say this:
COLLEGE IS NOT A RIGHT! You CHOOSE to go to college!!!ELEVENTY!!! You don’t need a degree to get a job. The taxpayers do not owe you their money to help you pay for your child to go to college, Mrs. Spencer. Because that’s what financial aid is–taxpayers being forced into giving you their money for you to pay for your stuff! If your children, or if you, want to go to college, don’t be upset if the people from your state can’t afford to help you with that!
