Posted on 07/30/2019 11:28:35 AM PDT by simpson96
Dozens of suburban Chicago families, perhaps many more, have been exploiting a legal loophole to win their children need-based college financial aid and scholarships they would not otherwise receive, court records and interviews show.
Coming months after the national "Varsity Blues" college admissions scandal, this tactic also appears to involve families attempting to gain an advantage in an increasingly competitive and expensive college admissions system.
Parents are giving up legal custody of their children during their junior or senior year in high school to someone else -- a friend, aunt, cousin or grandparent. The guardianship status then allows the students to declare themselves financially independent of their families so they can qualify for federal, state and university aid, a ProPublica Illinois investigation found.
"It's a scam," said Andy Borst, director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "Wealthy families are manipulating the financial aid process to be eligible for financial aid they would not be otherwise eligible for. They are taking away opportunities from families that really need it."(snip)
Borst said he first became suspicious when a high school counselor from an affluent Chicago suburb called him about a year ago to ask why a particular student had been invited to an orientation program for low-income students. Borst checked the student's financial aid application and saw she had obtained a legal guardian, making her eligible to qualify for financial aid independently.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailyherald.com ...
Everything about college admissions is a scam.
It's not uncommon for high school grads to take some time off to establish their independence and eligibility for financial aid.
As "scams" go, it's not the worst.
It seems more like a rational response to colleges' efforts to take their parents' life savings for tuition.
I didn’t have time before, but given that the ‘national hero’ who shoved Common Core down our throats now runs the College Board and has promised to add an ‘Adversity Score’ to SATs (secret, by the way, you’ll never be able to see it, only the colleges), one has to consider responding. In that case, to raise the score for your kids, you need to do things like (fake) ‘divorce’, officially turning your household into single-income, live in a crappy house, in a (relatively) crappy area, etc.
The game has to be played against them, by THEIR set of rules until the rules change, just as Trump has been doing regarding the Democrats. When, and less likely if, things change to a more civil and just set of rules, then we can revert to again being civil and just.
Maybe it is just me but sorry, I just don’t think 2 wrongs make a right...
You think it is OK to fake divorce or move to crappy area to enhance college admissions?? Here is an idea...How about getting kids to work their butts off and earn the grades to make it to the school they want without gaming the system?
There have always been backdoors to IVYs...preferential treatment etc...this is nothing new, and I know parents who sent kids to them...legitimately...no gaming...and the IVYs are not all they are cracked up to be anyway.
SAT adversity? My kids went to schools that accepted both ACT and SAT...No ACT adversity scoring...
I put 4 kids thru undergrad—legally, honestly, and ethically. They did not go IVY league, but they went to good schools because THEY WORKED HARD....And they received good educations...and they legitimately qualified for scholarships too. Where did they end up? 1 has PhD in CHem Engineering, one has MS in Electrical/Computer Engineering, one has BS working on MS in Clinical MicroBio Lab Science. No gaming the system..
Those schemes existed when mine were applying to college-—and I was well aware of them. I could have easily done one or two of those schemes, but I chose not to...What kind of example does that set for kids?!? Yay son, we gamed the system so you could go to college...They might make great politicians but not necessarily very good citizens...
Oh and BTW, I actually live in one of the 2 upscale towns mentioned in the article where half of the guardianship cases were filed, so I am very well aware of the pressure for kids to go to good schools and all that entails...
Sorry, I just won’t stoop to that level.
“Sorry, I just won’t stoop to that level.”
Neither did Bush Jr., he took the high road too when being treated like dirt, and we all saw where that got him.
My kids aren’t exactly shoveling coal either, and yep, they went to second-rate state schools, at least for their undergrad (we kept them home during college). So I certainly agree with you there.
We just think different, but things keep getting worse and worse - the colleges our kids went to continue to turn the screws, little by little, and probably withing two decades some well known colleges will simply declare that they’re not going to take white or Asian kids anymore, unless they can show they belong to an oppressed group (i.e., LGBTs). Don’t laugh, that’s where they’re heading, step by step. Even 20 years ago, who would have thought that Harvard, flat-out, would set tuition by only on their perceived ‘need’ and not help out people based on merit one bit? They don’t even care anymore because they know no one’s going to stop them. So it gets worse and worse, and as far I’m concerned, for white/Asian parents, they have to play harder and harder.
In South Africa there’s now an of white professionals now out of work, many living in the streets. They’re far more qualified than their replacements, but they ‘played the rules’ and the rules are set by the government there. It’s too late for them...but don’t think for a moment the same type of people who run South Africa aren’t here, running the Democrat Party.
Here is an idea...How about getting kids to work their butts off and earn the grades to make it to the school they want without gaming the system?
No longer possible because a system designed by Socialists is actually geared to punish hard work. Gaming the system is how people survive under Socialism.
-———————————————]
I think what you are advocating is sending a horrible message to our kids—future leaders. Gaming is good...So in socialists countries, people lie, cheat, and steal and you think it is required and perhaps desired?
Sorry, at least at this point in time, saying hard work won’t get you into college is a cop-out. The article stated that the kids were top students, top athletes, etc...They were hard workers and accepted to top schools, but either their parents did not have the liquid assets or did not wish to spend their liquid assets to pay kids’ college or saddle kids with loans...So they gamed the system and stole scholarship money from others.
As I stated in another post, I actually live in one of the 2 towns mentioned—my 3 kids went thru the system, and I was well aware of the gaming options.
However, validating or encouraging gaming just fosters the 2-tier system and allows the colleges to keep raising tuition to unrealistic levels.
As I have said on other threads, colleges have to have skin in the game...Let them loan money, publish placement rates etc...Be held accountable...And just as important, eliminate government from the loan equation.
“Sorry, I just won’t stoop to that level.”
Neither did Bush Jr., he took the high road too when being treated like dirt, and we all saw where that got him.
~~~I don’t think that is an apple-to-apple comparison. And regarding Bush, I don’t think he necessarily took the high road. I think he is an elite globalist like many of the dems and really didn’t care as long as the agenda was on track...As they say, hindsight is 20/20 (well closer to 20/20)...over the years we have learned a lot more about exactly who he and his father were...I look at what he has said and not said about our current president and his initiatives.
Hillary cheated, should Trump?
IMHO This is about what we as parents are teaching our children. As I said, I believe these families actually stole need-based scholarships from more deserving students. LGBT, etc. has nothing to do with what happened here.
If you want to move to an undesirable sketchy neighborhood to get kid into college—sending a different message than stealing. However, I would have never put my family in that situation...I could have moved 10 miles to a different school district that was not quite as competitive as my towns’, and my kids’ class rank would have been higher—but I didn’t think it was worth putting the family through that—many things to consider.
Actually, people cheated trying to claim they lived in my community because the schools are desirable—cheating of a different sort...freeriders benefiting from my property taxes...
My kids aren’t exactly shoveling coal either, and yep, they went to second-rate state schools, at least for their undergrad (we kept them home during college). So I certainly agree with you there.
~~~~~See I don’t think it is necessary to send kids to IVYs to get a good education. I sense it is more important to you perhaps? I know many parents who did send kids to IVYs, and the education was not any better tho they did make some valuable connections...These are not people who gamed the system...but they probably fit the profile of those who did in terms of income, etc...The families who scammed the system just did not want to pay...and as I said in last post, we have more market forces at play in college costs...
I don’t know what “second-rate state schools” means as there are many state schools that are excellent in certain fields. And if kids are seeking a degree requiring certification such as nursing, the certification closes a lot of gap in terms of school prestige. I am thankful my kids got degrees in the sciences as opposed to education, the arts, etc.
~~~~~I think this is not merely a college admission problem... this is a much bigger problem. If the socialism movement, white “privilege” movement, and censoring of differing ideas movements are not stopped, your predictions may very well come true.
In South Africa there’s now an of white professionals now out of work, many living in the streets. They’re far more qualified than their replacements, but they ‘played the rules’ and the rules are set by the government there. It’s too late for them...but don’t think for a moment the same type of people who run South Africa aren’t here, running the Democrat Party.
~~~~Gaming the college admissions program would not help in South Africa...as I said it is a bigger problem with race and social justice, etc.
And there are many out-of-work Caucasian STEM workers and college grads facing very questionable futures...has nothing to do with LGBT, but rather globalization of our country—and our politicians...Just this week, the Senate version of HB 1044 is being considered, and Pres. will probably sign it :(
Diversity is not our strength....and neither is Harvard nor the other IVYs for that matter.
One thing I might add, I read a rather disturbing article today about illegal immigration...
“Children are being rented, bought, kidnapped, and recycled so that single adults, mostly men from Central America, can gain quick release into the United States after crossing the border illegally.”
They are gaming the system, and none of us like it...So why is it OK for us to game the system?
We’re RESPONDING - it’s already gamed against us.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.