European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 27, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 20 the stars and stripes tuesday september 27, 1977 the College bind by Gloria Borge Washington Star n Orma and Marquis Seidel a Kensington,md., couple earning about $40,000 a year always figured that financing College educations for their six children without any Hel might be difficult but not impossible. After All Seidel an economist at the Federal Power commission and his wife had worked hard for years to pay off a mortgage on a House now Worth about $100,000. They paid for private schools and tried to save for the flood when their children now 17, 16, 15. 12, 10 and 5 would begin College. Then their oldest daughter became a freshman at a private College in Virginia last fall. The Eidels discovered that the $4,000 Cost not including spending Money meant Loans from the credit Union and a Job off Campus at Mcdonald for her. And now the family must find a Way to finance a College education for those next in line. The Eidels Are facing a problem very real to Mil Lions of american families with annual incomes be tween $12,090 and $50,000 the Cost of a College education is skyrocketing and  called Middle income families once Able to Cope with tuition costs find themselves unable to pay for school without some sort of assistance. But because of their incomes financial Aid is either impossible or difficult to come by and if it is granted it arrives in relatively Small sums. Now sending my children to schools like Harvard Princeton or Georgetown is almost out of the question Seidel said naming three private universities where total costs and expenses Are Likely to run Between $6,000 and $7,000 each year. By virtue of the fact that you have had some Money and have worked hard the schools expect you to use More than you have. They just treat assets the wrong Way he said. Since 1970 total College costs have risen about 70 per cent to a median Cost of about $2,790 per year at a state run school and $4,568 at private colleges. These figures supplied by the College scholarship service a Branch of the College Entrance examination Board that establishes standards on financial Aid eligibility vary widely among schools with most of the Ivy league institutions climbing near or above the $7,000 Mark for tuition room and Board. Ten years ago if a $32,000-a-year fellow with a couple of kids came to you for help you would t take it very seriously said Richard Black director of financial Aid at Georgetown University where Over All costs Are now estimated at $6,250, up from $5,500 in 1976. Now if he comes to us he says today i m starving on the salary i once dreamed i d make As the saying goes. His paycheck is Goethe Day he gets  a few years Back someone with a $20,000 income was marked no need automatically said George Koval director of financial Aid at the University of Pennsylvania where total costs average about $7,575 and where about half the students from families with incomes in excess of $15,000 receive financial assistance. Now we get applications from families with a few kids in school with in comes in excess of $50,000. It absolutely mind  tire financial Aid director at american University re members a Case recently when a judge with a yearly income of More than $60,000 was informed his child had to attend a $1,700 summer program to get some special help before beginning his freshman year. He wrote us saying that although he had t intended to ask us for Aid he wanted Aid because the child would not be Able to work during the summer said Edward Van Kloberg a Dean of admissions financial Aid and veterans affairs. We refused Aid and the child did not come to  according to administrators at the College scholarship service parents earning $24,000 a year in a family with two children were expected to contrib Ute $3,000 this year to finance a child College Edu cation. Of that $3,000 figure according to Alexander g. Sidar jr., executive director of the ass $850 is considered to be what the parents would have to pay for support of the child at Home for nine months. The ass afro expects the student to contribute $500 yearly from summer earnings for his education. If the total College Cost is $7,000, that leaves $3,500 still to be accounted for. The ass then lists possible sources of Aid state scholarships supplementary educational Opportunity Grants from the school institutional Aid Grants a variety of Low interest deferred payment government Loans and a part time Job for the student. While most College financial Aid experts admit that Middle income families Are suffering from High College costs Many add that their sympathies Are limited. In Stead financial Aid administrators emphasize that eligibility is determined by a combination of factors income Home equity savings age of parents and number of children in College to name a few. Often we get caught in a human bind. We Don t want to come off like the bad Guys but often we have to Tell people that paying for their child College education May mean they will not be Able to go to Europe next summer said Jeanette Piantadosi assistant director of financial Aid at american univer sity. We look at their ability to pay not just their willing Ness. Financial Aid is self help and some families at least have the luxury of choosing Between alternatives. There Are poor students who have no luxury like that at  people in certain income brackets often develop a modern living lifestyle As they go up the income ladder that they Don twant to alter at All added Sidar. Sometimes though with two or three kids in College things have to  who wonder whether the sacrifice will be worthwhile should not question the value of sending their children to College some experts say. Even today the investment of College education is still Worth several Hun dred thousand dollars in the Long run Sidar said. Thomas Owen would agree. Owen who is now an administrator at american University sent four children through College in the 1960s while earning Between$16,000 and $22,000 a year As an officer in the Navy. You Pinch pennies and you share the responsibilities with your children said Owen. We did not apply for financial assistance then but we would now. But it is important for children to work and help pay for their education. It makes the education Al process More  some financial Aid experts say that the problems of the Middle income families May portend a change Back to the Merit system of awarding Grant Money. Most awards now Are based on need As Long As the student qualifies academically for College. There a big controversy brewing about that now said one expert who asked to remain Anonymous. Twenty years ago the idea of Basing scholarships on need was in its infancy. Everything was geared towards getting the Cream of the crop to come to your school. Then with the 60s and equal Opportunity the Aca Demic emphasis waned. Now if costs keep rising and remedies Aren t forthcoming we May see some resurgence of Merit  because of the recent emphasis on need the amount of scholarship Aid available for Middle income families is still relatively Small. Generally Bright students from families making less than $12,000 each year still Are the prime Candi dates for scholarships Low interest Loans and Feder Al Grants. As income increases the Money is harder to come by. And once families Are in the $20,000-a-year Range they had better Start looking for ways to fend for themselves for the majority of the College Bills. Marvin s., a suburban Maryland resident who earns about $35,000 a year has been doing just that. With one son a senior in a College costing about $2,800 and another beginning at a school in the $4,000 Range he has had to borrow on his life insurance policy and dig into a Small inheritance to pay for College. I m educating the kids Over the grave of my poor Mother said Marvin s., who asked that he not be fur ther identified. If you re not a Jock and if you re too wealthy to qualify for a Basic Opportunity Grant you re stuck. There does t seem to be any plan for the family that has worked hard to make some Money and now does t want to re mortgage everything to Send their kids to  where credits Are due by Ari l. Goldman new York times f a College gives an accountant credit for his work experience should it give a woman credit for bearing and raising children if a Canoe trip Down the Connecticut River is Worth six credits in biology How Many credits in penology should an inmate get for spend ing a year in prison these Are just a few of the questions raised by the practice among Many col Leges and universities of granting academic credit for what is generally termed life  some educators believe that the credits for life experience represent a Long awaited and Welcome realization that valid learning experiences can take place outside the classroom. But others regard the credits As a dilution of the traditional academic process that threatens the integrity of adult College programs. Two of the major schools geared to adult education in new York City the new school for social research and the school of general studies at Columbia University have decided not to go along with the trend. Ward h. Dennis the Dean of he general studies school said the faculty had found no satisfactory Way to assess experiential learning. At the new school Patrick d. Sheehan the director of educational advis ing said the school curriculum was very classroom  while general studies and the new school offer no credit for life experience the weekend College at Mary mount in Tarrytown n.y., not Only offers credit for it but also places no limit on the number of credits a student can receive for life experience according to Joseph Maddalena the College assistant director of continuing education. He cited the Case of a 39-year-old Man who had started a Nursery school in a local Church and who later applied for credits toward a Bachelor degree for the experience. The Man assembled a portfolio of his achievements and in accordance with the school procedure Mary mount awarded him a total of 30 credits in Small business administration management counselling and sociology. The Man wrote in his portfolio that he had been Active in the civil rights move ment Maddalena said and that he had spent time in prison with the Rev. Or. Martin Luther King or. Although he had not requested credits for these experiences the committee that assessed his portfolio decided that they merited Colleg credit. The concept of granting academic credit for life experience has gained in recent years As thousands of adults have returned to the classroom. Those with years of experience in a particular Field the reasoning goes should not have to sit through an introductory course in that Field with 17 and 18 year old freshmen. Adults also do not want to spend the traditional four years in College for their degrees and credit for life experience can help Speed them along. The practice of granting credit Tor life experience grew rapidly in the Early 1970s. An increasing number of questions have recently been raised about their value. New York state education department has issued rules governing credit for life experience but it acknowledges that the practice is open to abuse. Most of the responsibility lies with the institution said Edward f. Carr the director of the depart ment division of academic program review. We can Only do periodic re  he added that the monitoring of nontraditional education programs in which standards and academic require ments Are by definition relaxed is More difficult than overseeing traditional  guidelines according to Carr revolved around the principle that it is the learning itself that should be evaluated not the  the student must demonstrate his knowledge of a subject through a written or Oral examination or through a portfolio backed up with sup porting documents. The experience must also be with Nan academic area offered by the particular institution. The portfolio must be reviewed by a faculty member competent in the discipline and life experience credits cannot be Given before the student has taken at least one course at the institution. The last regulation Carr said is to guard against students who shop around for the school offering the most credits for life experience. A project called Cael cooperative assessment of experiential learning i assessing the practice of granting credits for life experience. Working with the educational testing service of Princeton n.j., and 160 colleges the program has distinguished various stages of assessment common to All life experiences. These include such Steps As articulating and documenting learning and procedures for evaluating its Worth. While Cael is helping the member colleges assess experiences of students most institutions rely on their own procedures for such an evaluation