In May 1967, I was a bundle of nerves awaiting the National Merit Scholarship test results. I had gotten into Harvard but knew it would be a financial burden to my parents. My Dad worked for Allstate Insurance and made good money, but we were not wealthy. The results came in, and I was named a National Merit Scholar, a sponsored Allstate Merit Scholar, one of two in the country. I was overjoyed. I could pay my way. Not so fast, buddy! An advisory board deemed that my father made too much money, limiting my stipend to $1,000 yearly. Not, as you pointed out. Peter, a paltry sum, but not what I had hoped for or expected. Allstate got lots of publicity parading the two of us, and I'm positive they wouldn't have noticed a higher payout. But rules were rules!
Like you, I worked during my undergraduate years - selling firewood, teaching bartending, washing dishes, and working at faculty parties. I even got to open 150 bottles of champagne at a Van Cliburn concert at Symphony Hall. Van (he insisted I call him that) was the tallest person there, and I was the second tallest. He was more comfortable talking to me than mingling with hoi polloi. At school, money was tight, and I rarely ate outside the dorm and could not join the social and cultural clubs that appealed to me. In the summer, I worked in a sweltering valve assembly operation in Long Beach, California. I don't begrudge the current crop of freshmen their largesse, just as I don't mind seeing students get the debt relief that my wife and I didn't. We paid off our last college and graduate school student loans in 1984. We didn't miss that 18 percent interest rate! I learned and gained a tremendous amount from college, and I think it is vital for those who can also find value there. However, its cost is so out of line with average family capabilities that it will (or now is) solely for the highest income levels. That is areal shame.
Kudos to Harvard for this financial help. As most of your readers, I would guess, I worked through college, too; and medical school--from bucking hay and putting up tobacco, to construction to night-watchman to short-order cook to teaching assistant, to night coverage in a tiny hospital, among other jobs--and some support from the National Science Foundation. These, plus some student loans and very lean diets, got me through, all at state schools with what seem now to be absurdly low tuition and room-and-board. As I recall, Purdue's annual fees plus room and board (at the cheapest housing, State Street Court) in 1964 cost just under $1200. Minimum wage had just increased to $1.15/hr, but I had been bucking hay at 75 cents.
I know that the increased costs have outpaced the wages of the types of jobs I held. i believe that as a nation, we ought to fully fund college and trade schools for students who demonstrate diligence and progress. (I'd like universal national service, too. And a pony.)
I too worked my way through college - in the 1980s, without any help from step parents- I could only afford to attend Southern Oregon and dreamed of going to UofO or Stanford and taking law. My granddaughter now attends Northeastern in Boston- a Valedictorian and top science student - she gets 17% of her $90,000 a year tuition and board granted and the rest is on her and us. I sent her the announcement from Harvard- hoping she might consider taking her freshman microbiology engineering credits a hop away. Time will tell after she works all summer- I think it’s a wonderful announcement- along with John Hopkins and others to help the students who often fall into that middle area and seem to bear the biggest hurdle- smart but not rich or too poor. I spent 8 years of my career in university administration and development- and I saw the same thing in the 90s and strove to raise scholarships for that overlooked segment. Financial barriers are legit and I’m glad to see the progress towards equity of access to academic education.
I graduated law school in 1986 with over $60,000 in debt from student loans; today that same amount would most likely be triple. I did not work my first year, however did work the summer between my first & second year, and my last two years while I finished. I do not begrudge having to borrow money for school; however, I completely100% support student loan forgiveness and a complete revamping of the higher education system. Our higher education system leaves out a lot of qualified students who do not come from wealthy families. Today, many students cannot afford school costs & living expenses necessary to obtain higher education. It is sad to me that a country as rich as ours, does not provide all qualified students the ability to obtain higher education. This needs to change!
Theoretical economics isn't a subject that gets an awful lot of undergraduates excited. Yet comparing the higher education stories of us boomers to what's happening now gets one to wonder. What the heck changed? Inflation, certainly. Even heard it was built into the financial system. It couldn't all be due to administrative add-ons, could it? How about 1971, Nixon and taking the USA off the gold standard? Is that the smoking gun that allowed a credit explosion and massive debt and left us with "funny money" which no one can figure out for sure what it's worth?
In May 1967, I was a bundle of nerves awaiting the National Merit Scholarship test results. I had gotten into Harvard but knew it would be a financial burden to my parents. My Dad worked for Allstate Insurance and made good money, but we were not wealthy. The results came in, and I was named a National Merit Scholar, a sponsored Allstate Merit Scholar, one of two in the country. I was overjoyed. I could pay my way. Not so fast, buddy! An advisory board deemed that my father made too much money, limiting my stipend to $1,000 yearly. Not, as you pointed out. Peter, a paltry sum, but not what I had hoped for or expected. Allstate got lots of publicity parading the two of us, and I'm positive they wouldn't have noticed a higher payout. But rules were rules!
Like you, I worked during my undergraduate years - selling firewood, teaching bartending, washing dishes, and working at faculty parties. I even got to open 150 bottles of champagne at a Van Cliburn concert at Symphony Hall. Van (he insisted I call him that) was the tallest person there, and I was the second tallest. He was more comfortable talking to me than mingling with hoi polloi. At school, money was tight, and I rarely ate outside the dorm and could not join the social and cultural clubs that appealed to me. In the summer, I worked in a sweltering valve assembly operation in Long Beach, California. I don't begrudge the current crop of freshmen their largesse, just as I don't mind seeing students get the debt relief that my wife and I didn't. We paid off our last college and graduate school student loans in 1984. We didn't miss that 18 percent interest rate! I learned and gained a tremendous amount from college, and I think it is vital for those who can also find value there. However, its cost is so out of line with average family capabilities that it will (or now is) solely for the highest income levels. That is areal shame.
Kudos to Harvard for this financial help. As most of your readers, I would guess, I worked through college, too; and medical school--from bucking hay and putting up tobacco, to construction to night-watchman to short-order cook to teaching assistant, to night coverage in a tiny hospital, among other jobs--and some support from the National Science Foundation. These, plus some student loans and very lean diets, got me through, all at state schools with what seem now to be absurdly low tuition and room-and-board. As I recall, Purdue's annual fees plus room and board (at the cheapest housing, State Street Court) in 1964 cost just under $1200. Minimum wage had just increased to $1.15/hr, but I had been bucking hay at 75 cents.
I know that the increased costs have outpaced the wages of the types of jobs I held. i believe that as a nation, we ought to fully fund college and trade schools for students who demonstrate diligence and progress. (I'd like universal national service, too. And a pony.)
Very interesting comparisons. Back then I thought is was a long way from Eugene to Medford. Nothing like what you had to deal with.
I too worked my way through college - in the 1980s, without any help from step parents- I could only afford to attend Southern Oregon and dreamed of going to UofO or Stanford and taking law. My granddaughter now attends Northeastern in Boston- a Valedictorian and top science student - she gets 17% of her $90,000 a year tuition and board granted and the rest is on her and us. I sent her the announcement from Harvard- hoping she might consider taking her freshman microbiology engineering credits a hop away. Time will tell after she works all summer- I think it’s a wonderful announcement- along with John Hopkins and others to help the students who often fall into that middle area and seem to bear the biggest hurdle- smart but not rich or too poor. I spent 8 years of my career in university administration and development- and I saw the same thing in the 90s and strove to raise scholarships for that overlooked segment. Financial barriers are legit and I’m glad to see the progress towards equity of access to academic education.
I graduated law school in 1986 with over $60,000 in debt from student loans; today that same amount would most likely be triple. I did not work my first year, however did work the summer between my first & second year, and my last two years while I finished. I do not begrudge having to borrow money for school; however, I completely100% support student loan forgiveness and a complete revamping of the higher education system. Our higher education system leaves out a lot of qualified students who do not come from wealthy families. Today, many students cannot afford school costs & living expenses necessary to obtain higher education. It is sad to me that a country as rich as ours, does not provide all qualified students the ability to obtain higher education. This needs to change!
Theoretical economics isn't a subject that gets an awful lot of undergraduates excited. Yet comparing the higher education stories of us boomers to what's happening now gets one to wonder. What the heck changed? Inflation, certainly. Even heard it was built into the financial system. It couldn't all be due to administrative add-ons, could it? How about 1971, Nixon and taking the USA off the gold standard? Is that the smoking gun that allowed a credit explosion and massive debt and left us with "funny money" which no one can figure out for sure what it's worth?