Death and Taxes

Obviously, I didn't die this morning, or I wouldn't be posting on this blog right now.

My reward for having my heart NOT explode was completing the FAFSA just now.  I'm not going to lie, I made myself a mimosa before I even logged on to the computer, because I figure filling out any government document requires at least a champagne cocktail to make the process less agitating.

College ranting ensues ...

My child has been accepted to every school he has applied to, except the University of Chicago (where he was wait listed), and those pretentious bastards at UC can (in the words of the late Kurt Vonnegut) go take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut.

But as anyone who is trying to go to college (or trying to put someone through college) knows, getting accepted is the easy part.  It's PAYING for college that's a huge pain in the ass.  Every college has mailed us some wildly hyperbolic scholarship announcement with its acceptance letter, declaring how much money he has been awarded, based on his "exceptional academic achievement" or "superior leadership skills", yet none of them comes even close to paying full tuition.  The last letter was from the University of Oregon, which proclaimed a "$36,000 Summit Scholarship ... recognizing students who have reached the peak of high school achievement" !  The "peak"??  Jesus H.  I hope he can do better than what was expected of him in high school ...  Anyway, it breaks down to $9,000 per year - of the $32,000 yearly tuition.  So, yeah.  Not helpful.

And right now, he is down at Creighton, sucking up to the College of Business Administration, because they gave him a similar (though more substantial) scholarship for business and leadership.  Today and tomorrow is a competition for a bigger tuition prize.

I wonder, should he just start doing a circus act to  get their attention and money??  Light himself on fire in front of the chapel?  Because I don't have any prominent Omaha business connections - I chose to be a teacher.  My connections are all 16 years old.

Northwestern accepted him, but offered no scholarships.  It's $65,500 per year.  ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??   I don't care how cool Northwestern is or what a nuanced, progressive, substantial kind of university they have over there in Evanston, NOTHING is worth $65.000, unless it's real estate.  And of course, once you've seen the campus, and seen how incredibly cool it is, you want to go there.  They get you with the little things.  None of that matters for us, of course, because I can't afford such a debaucherous expenditure, but apparently a lot of people can, because Northwestern turns people away every single year.

What is the point here?  (Good question.)  College is necessary, but not everyone can afford it.  So because colleges charge such exorbitant rates to attend, they create a defining class system in the United States.  Those who CAN, and those who CAN'T afford to mortgage their entire futures on loans which MAY or MAY NOT pay off in future job opportunities and salaries get separated more and more with each graduating class.

As a teacher, I have to be the catalyst for changing this horribly broken and predatory system.  How?  I don't know.  But I'm open to suggestions... In the meantime, I'll keep getting my students excited and prepared for a future they probably can't afford.