College Fund Raising…

So I’m sitting here minding my own business when the phone rings and it’s my younger daughter’s college calling to tell me about this new career center they opened. I politely explain, to the young freshman they recruited to make these calls, that my daughter currently has no time for an internship or job and if she is successful with her studies she should be able to find a job as a clinical laboratory scientist. Then I hear a pause, after which the young girl says, well now I come to the hard part for me. I had to laugh. The school never calls for any reason except to ask for money. So I said, “Why, are you going to ask me for money?” She says yes…

I am not going to chop her head off for doing something she obviously was coerced to do. But, I did explain to her that my daughter is currently enrolled and the tuition is expensive. On top of that, she has been taking classes in the summer, the past two summers, to ease her workload during the year to a tune of $6,000 per summer. We haven’t taken out loans, so right now we are a little strapped for cash and have nothing more to spare. Of course she understood because her parents have two children in college and she, herself, is in a 6 year pharmacy program. Good luck to her parents!

Now, I would like to know how this college feels it’s ok to ask parents for more money when we are already paying thousands in tuition? Many parents have more than one child in college, so the money well has pretty much run dry. I think it takes a lot of nerve on their part. A year ago it was some kind of university anniversary, so they were asking all parents to donate 1896. I was confused and asked, Where are you putting the decimal point?” After all, if they were asking $18.96, I could swing that, but no, they actually wanted me to send $1,896.00! I told them I just got done paying so many thousands in tuition and I’m sorry, but I really cannot afford to send you a check in that amount!

I could write a blog on astronomical college tuition costs, and maybe one day I will. But today I am just focusing on the audacity of any university, especially in these economic times, to call and ask the parents of enrolled students to cough up more money than they are already paying!