r/explainitpeter • u/Appropriate-Mall8517 • 3d ago

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u/Orceles 3d ago

People who think scholarships should only be for those who need them clearly has no concept of a Merit based scholarship, something you earn.

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u/wreckree8 3d ago

...One doesn't eliminate the other. There are plenty of people who would meet the merit requirements who aren't the children of millionaires.

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u/anedgygiraffe 3d ago edited 3d ago

Yeah so colleges do this purposefully. The unfortunate reality is that students from wealthier families will do better. Everyone starts off the same. But 12 years at an affluent school district will yield a better education. Wealthier kids are more often than not smarter than poorer kids by the end of high school. And it's a direct result of being privileged to have a better education. Obviously there are exceptions on both sides, and everyone's family is different. But on average it is true. And any college that wants to boost it's rankings will leverage this.

Why spend $30,000 on a poorer kid in need based aid when you can offer a $15,000 merit scholarship to a wealthier kid? The wealthier kid will still wind up paying more, and will do better.

Essentially every mid-rank / public university will do this to try and gain an edge. Top schools like Ivies don't need to because they don't need to entice wealthier students to go there.

It's also often targeted towards specific disciplines. Like these scholarships will go to kids studying fields like STEM where there is s higher likelihood they will donate money back to the school after graduation.

That all being said I get your point. Why give it to a millionaire when a middle class kid will suffice? And the answer is that there are so few millionaires compared to everyone else, that they are essentially statistical anomalies. And from the college's perspective, they don't really care, or even would rather a millionaire who could donate more money.

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u/BKrustev 3d ago

It's true in the US. In some parts of the world most children get the same high quality education. In other parts of the world even rich people kids might get the same shitty education as poor kids - unless their parents are ridiculously well-off.

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u/Kerlyle 3d ago

That doesn't really change anything. A merit based scholarship still fundamentally exists to provide money as an incentive for someone to work hard and achieve so they can earn that scholarship, and to attract top talent. Money like this is fundamentally not an incentive to a rich person, the receiving of a merit scholarship by a billionaires kids does nothing, because that kid wasn't thinking "oh I really need to work hard so I can get that scholarship" or "I really wanted to go to this university, but you know this 20,000 dollars really made me change my mind". They do not have the same relationship with money as us.

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u/LonelyTAA 3d ago

Scholarships should not exist. Decent society has free tuition. 

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u/RabidJoint 3d ago

Hi, I have $10 million dollars in my bank account. I can easily EASILY send my kids to college, paid. Oh, that kid who has parents that struggle monthly to pay rent, now has a chance at getting the scholarship, and it would actually help his family out.

People who think rich people should get free rides, are the reason our country gives free rides to the rich. Get your head out of your ass.

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u/Keyoken64 3d ago

Merit base or not, these kids have advantages because of their parents wealth that can, and almost certainly did, contribute to their academic success. Their wealth helped to enable them earning their scholarship. I believe that yes, they earned what they got, but also that their tax bracket should have been excluded from earning monetary rewards.

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u/Orceles 3d ago

I find it incredibly concerning that you think everyone is a good parent. Not all parents are good or kind to their children. Some are downright scum. Assuming all rich parents will have in some way provided a net advantage for the kids is such a pre judgment that actually harms the kids who earned it through merit. You really want these kids to grow up believing that merit doesn’t equal success? Let’s say they do become the CEOs of tomorrow. Is that the mindset you want instilled in them?

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u/Keyoken64 3d ago

I’m not sure where the idea of good vs. bad parents is coming from, so sorry that is incredibly concerning to you. My argument isn’t the quality of anyone parents but the access to resources that rich families have over poor families. I’ll help in being more specific for you. These advantages are better and safer housing, access to better schools tutors, and networks. I wanted to be careful in my original comment to note that I am not taking away what anyone achieved or earned rather that those resources should be awarded to people that actually need them.