The more I investigate the scarier it gets.
Let’s let the numbers do the talking and understand that it's more Greek or Chinese than plain English to the layman.
It's called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which is simple enough so far. But wait!
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant for undergraduates with “exceptional financial need” goes up to $4,000 a year.
IT DEPENDS are the words that bounce off my brain as I read about FSEOG.
It’s tied to taxed and untaxed family income.
It’s tied to family’s current assets.
It’s tied to Social Security and unemployment benefits received by the family.
It’s tied to the size of the athlete’s family.
It’s tied to the NUMBER OF SIBLINGS attending college during the current school year.
Families with $26,000 or less of income have no expected family contribution under the law. And it's Katy bar the door for those with more income than that. It's like being the target of a pinball machine. You hear a lot of noise and don't know what the hell it means.
Cost of attendance is offset by need-based aid and merit-based scholarship.
And the amount offered can be in the form of grants, subsidized loans (interest paid by government but you will be dunned later for the loan) or work-study programs.
It’s like leaping off a cliff in total darkness and not knowing if there’s water or rocks below. Or alligators or sharks.
Can you imagine a teen athlete or his parents figuring out how to wade through these waters without stepping in quicksand?
Hell, my head still is swimming after reading everything that goes in FSEOG grants and, at 88, I’ve managed to amass more money than I ever dreamed a coal miner’s son would have, a substantial portfolio so I’m not a financial dummy.
I can’t imagine a teen athlete and his family making less than $50,000 a year can maneuver this maze and know what the hell to do.
If you don’t believe me, try reading the possibilities for yourself and ask: Can a teen athlete and his lower-income family escape the landmines, the financial predators, the unexpected turns, the mind-boggling zigs and zags in the rules.
This is a perfect recipe for story after story of athletes and their families being disillusioned too late, preyed upon too early and overwhelmed by it all without rich, fancy lawyers to guide them.
Many will have no idea that they will be financially worse off after all the yeah, buts are factored into their situations.
Here’s the URL. Maybe your brain is better than my 140+ IQ as figuring out all the potholes and nuances and whereases.
