thoughts on HRCs free college tuition/loan plan

[Belsnickel]

(08-16-2016, 09:13 AM)michaelsean Wrote: Here is something I wasn't aware of. A kid who gets a full ride to college either athletically or academically is still eligible for Pell Grants? I don't know if that amounts to much in the big scheme, but that seems like an incredible waste of money. A guy I know helped raise a kid who got a full football scholarship, and still receives $11,000 a year.

Something is not right, there. A university puts out what they call the "cost of attendance." This figure is usually provided in the office that handles financial aid awarding. To give you an idea, this is the website showing the amount for James Madison University: http://www.jmu.edu/financialaid/learn/cost-of-attendance-undergrad.shtml

The total awarded amount of financial aid, and this is by federal regulations, mind you, cannot exceed this amount for the year (or a figure based on that calculation). The means athletics, grants, scholarships, and even loans. If a student is awarded an amount beyond this and the university is audited by the DoE or by the NCAA, then there will be fines involved if that money was not taken back from the student. If a student receives an actual full athletics scholarship, meaning 100% of their eligibility, then their entire aid eligibility is used up with athletics and they cannot take anything else out, especially Pell. If a student that is on a full ride is receiving Pell in addition to that then they are violating regulations to give the student that money, and they are denying those funds to a student that could really benefit from them.