Posted on 08/21/2008 9:44:32 AM PDT by xtinct
Bruce Watson, freelance blogger writes:
When I was a student, there were many semesters when I spent less on food than on school books. I learned, from experience, that starvation is sometimes better than the 50th serving of lentils in a row, that there are only so many ways that ramen can be prepared, that $20 worth of raw materials can translate into a month's worth of hummus, and that sugar packets "liberated" from the local Burger King can be used to make Kool-aid, yielding a refreshing, almost free source of Vitamin C.
I had always considered myself an expert at the art of super-cheap college eating, but I recently realized that I had only scraped the tip of the iceberg. According to a recent article, the tough economy has pushed many students to frequent food banks and apply for food stamps. Some were doing so because they were trying to work their way through college on loans and part-time jobs, while others simply didn't want to ask their parents for money.
While it's nice to know that food stamps are an option for independent students who are desperately trying to make ends meet, I have to admit that I'm a little disgusted by the idea of affluent college kids gaming the system for a little extra money, particularly when the recession has left so many people in desperate need of a little help!
See the source for this blog post Strapped students turn to food banks
I wasn't sure if it is allowed on FR because the source is AP for News Observer.com
How are the students getting away with this obvious ripoff? ... especially the affluent students...
Guess what I did? I worked an extra shift and bought boxes of pasta.
There were times when I needed to make the rent and put gas in the car and I had to drink a few less beers on friday night.
Hmmm, budgeting and buying cheap stuff when you are in college...what a wacky idea.
Public schools, colleges, and universities are ripping off the American taxpayer, ripping off the students, and the students rip off the American taxpayer and the wheels turn merrily, merrily, education is but a scam.
(Coming)
Look to government to cure what ails you.
(communism)
No Top Romon noodles are the best ... 10-15 cents each serving.
I had a food card. $1.25 a day from the college cafe. Two fried eggs two cups of coffee and a bran muffin. My husband and I had lunch and breakfast wrapped up with that.
Since they have little real income, they likely qualify for entitlements meant for the poor. After all, they are adults, and have very little money of their own. However, it's considered cheating if they take advantage of entitlement programs rather than getting money from mom and dad even though they are legally adults.
There were times when I needed to make the rent and put gas in the car and I had to drink a few less beers on friday night.
Yep, that, cigarettes and fast food. Probably some more bad economic decisions in there somewhere.
PS, This sounded like I was pinging your economic decisions, not so. You made the rent and put gas in the car unlike the ones we are discussing.
They don’t want to ask their parents but they will ask complete strangers?
No worries.
Also, getting a job in a restaurant is key. You get fed and can always work out deals with the boss to do extra work behind the service bar, prep cook, etc.. to make a few extra bucks.
The way they do it is that they have researched the ability of parents with various income levels to pay tuition, so they make you fill out the financial aid forms, which enable them to calculate how much tuition the parents can ‘afford’.
Then, they can average all that out for a large sample of students and their parents and calculate what the tuition should be. So, when various grants and other financial aid packages increase from year to year, the college can increase the tuition, even if there are no cost increases for the college. (Of course, there are always cost increases, so the added value of the grants and financial aid packages is more or less hidden from view.)
I did a poor job of explaining it, but that’s basically how it works.
Rather than being a “what the market will bear” sort of thing, it’s a “what the market plus government and other financial aid packages will bear” sort of thing.
The fundamental education of university, making a budget and living it. (and of course, figuring out what can be trimmed from the budget after blowing a month's grocery funds on pouring drinks into a romantic interest on Fri night)
A few years ago, at the University of Iowa, the head football coach (earning $3 million per year) had a son on football scholarship who was living in public subsidized housing that was intended to help poor families.
I guess I`m poorer than many people posting here. My son is 32 years old, going to school full time and working full time (restaurant). He went back to school a couple of years ago, when he saw that there are NO decent jobs without an education. I could not help him financially then and I can`t afford to help him now. Without Pell grants, etc., he would be a fry cook for the rest of his days. My point is that there are many, many young students out there that NEED a helping hand, let`s not throw them out with the students who , you think, are affluent.
When I was a senior in college, I got an internship at a brewery in Boston. I was paid in beer. So my buying beer issue disappeared for the most part!
Also, I got a lot of t-shirts and cases of beer that I traded to other friends for dinner at their restaurants, clothes, etc...
Ahh, the good old days!
The company where I worked paid for college. We had warehouse workers getting a free degree. It all depends on where you work.
Funny, when **I** was an undergrad, when things got tight, it was bread from the day-old store, tuna fish from a can (and the store brand), and ramen. Heck, even NOW,you can buy enough ramen noodles for a week for under 5 bucks. . .
Even now, 25 years later. . .sitting on the shelves in our pantry are a few shrink-wrapped 20-brick-packs of ramen noodles. . . .
When I was a student I solved the problem by getting a part time job washing dishes in an Italian restaurant. I ate well for about two years.
My son is in his third year of an electical enginering degree. We are praying that next year he will be able to get a job that will help him pay for his schooling. BTY (just a mom`s bragging), but he has made the deans list every semester! He`s going to school in NC. Restaraunt pay is $2.60 plus tips an hour. He struggles every semester, but his eyes are on the prize! Thank you for answering.
"Before, when I lived in the dorms, I was on the meal plan," the 20-year-old said. "Now that I'm in the apartment, I have to pay for food, and I have to pay my cell phone bill. I don't make enough to pay for both."
We are living in an entitlement society, no doubt about it.
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