[quote name='Koggit']I have to pay nonresident tuition, which is 22k a year, despite having lived here for three years, due to ridiculous residency guidelines... the 22k is just for tuition alone.[/quote]
Well that sucks, but yeah that's typical tuition for out-of-state.
I'm ineligible for most need-based aid because of my parents' income, yet they can't come anywhere close to affording the 22k/year. I know a lot of people who are doing really bad in school, ~3.0 average or worse, getting free tuition through need-based aid. That funding should go into merit-based scholarships that people like me could apply for, while those underachieving slackers are faced with the choice of either shaping up and performing at a level worth using tax payers' money, or pay for the lecture seat they're wasting themself.
It's really frustrating to drop 7k on a quarter, bust my ass and do well, while watching the guy beside me slack off, skip class, etc, with free tuition paid for with tax money.
Well, first things first, a 3.0 is pretty damn decent, not spectacular, but a B average isn't terrible and is probably above average in most institutions (if you go with a normal curve the average should be around a C). If anybody in school does too terribly they get probation and/or flunk out anyway, and I wouldn't be opposed to some kind of academic requirement too keep the scholarship, but I'd probably put it at about a 3.0 anyway.
Need-based scholarships start out without an academic requirement because if you're poor enough to need it you've probably got some shit interfering with your ability to do well in high school. I wouldn't be opposed to some requirement
in college to keep it though, unless there are some extreme circumstances.
To add to that, most people pay for college either through loans or working during college or both, not their parents actually being able to dish out $15-20k a year. You'd probably have to be in the top 15-20% of income earners to actually be able to do that. But that's also why there are federal loans (subsidized and not) available to people. Also, if you make more money you have a better chance of getting a private loan with a decent enough interest rate not to rape you for years and years afterward.
In any case, if they do that terribly they're not going to get a degree, while you will.
EDIT: I'm with you in the wish for more merit-based scholarships, since most I've seen are "write an essay about this bullshit" or something similar that I don't have the time to do or can't bullshit sufficiently to write a good essay about it. But I did get a merit-based half-tuition scholarship out of high school (given by the institution) and a small need-based grant from the state, which together covered about $3,000 out of $5,000 a semester (since I have in-state tuition). And I'm still living at home and have private and federal loans to cover the rest of my expenses (which I think are around $20-25k total right now, in my last semester), so I didn't do so bad, that's about 1/3 of the debt my brother came out with (including the interest on the loans).
