Let's Help Austyn Get Her College Education!
Help Me Help Austyn Overcome the Higher Education Curse of the Middle Class
I don’t have kids of my own, so I’m trying to help a young person I know go to college. Austyn is a player and captain on the Alhambra High Lacrosse team, someone who is a great athlete and an even better person. She is soon going to graduate with a 4.1 GPA, and plans to go to college in the fall. But there’s the problem. She suffers from what I call the higher education curse of the middle class. As you know, if your family has lots of resources, paying for college is no problem. If your family has few resources but you have the grades, schools will pay for you to attend. But if your family has a middle class income, you often fall into that gray area where you have to shoulder most, if not all, of the costs of attending college, even though you may not have a lot of resources. That means you may get a few grants or scholarships, and either your family goes into hock paying the rest up front, or you as a student, graduate college with a large amount of school debt to pay off. (Obviously, that’s one of the biggest issues our nation faces right now: a huge collective pile of college loan debt.)
That’s where my player, Austyn, finds herself. She was accepted by and plans this fall to attend my alma mater, San Diego State University, with an eye toward becoming a physical therapist or a physician’s assistant. But because of her family’s financial status, she doesn’t qualify for any federal or state grants, so she has to pay the $30,000 per year (crazy, right?!?) to live on campus and attend SDSU herself. (Thankfully, it wasn’t anything like that when I was there, or I never would have graduated - or I would have with debilitating debt.)
Here’s a little more about Austyn. Not only did she play four years on Alhambra’s lacrosse team, she has always been an active member in our community and a well-rounded student. She has maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout high school and taken numerous AP classes. Austyn’s other activities include playing clarinet in Alhambra’s marching band, playing varsity and club soccer, and she serves as Vice President of the school’s National Honor Society, and social media correspondent for the UNICEF Club and Key Club.
Austyn lives at home with her mother and stepfather who are unfortunately unable to cover the costs of college. Austyn’s mother raised her and her two older brothers as a single mom, with no familial support, for the majority of Austyn’s life. Her father lives in Texas and has health issues mainly stemming from cancer which have him on a fixed income. If they were able, her parents and stepfather would gladly cover the full cost of school.
Austyn is working to lower the costs of college by applying to more than a dozen local, regional and national scholarships (and she is applying for more). She also works as a soccer coach for players from 4 to 18 years old.
Now, you might ask, well, why doesn’t Austyn just go to junior college for a couple years to save money? That’s indeed a possible course of action. But she wants to have the full college experience, and I support that. There’s nothing like living on campus and fully immersing yourself in college life. I always say half of what you learn in college is about becoming an adult, managing your time without your parents looking over your shoulder, getting all your errands and chores done, while also tending to your studies and pulling great grades. That’s all much harder to do/learn when you live at home with your family while going to JC.
So, I‘ve created this GoFundMe to help Austyn pay for college. I’ve already committed to personally supporting her education, but I need a lot of help from my friends. I don’t want her to graduate from school with $80,000+ worth of debt, so I want to raise enough money to cover as much of her education as possible.
I know this is asking a lot, but I want to raise at least $25,000 to cover just over 20% of the cost of four years at San Diego State. If we can get 500 people to give $50, that gets us there. Together, we can help ensure that Austyn graduates with no huge loans to pay off. The more people who see this, the better, so please pass it on.
For me, this is about helping a young person I have worked with for four years, who I know will do big things in life, but who will face significant challenges coming out of school without some major help along the way. What do you say? Let’s make Austyn’s dream of a great college education - without a lot of debt - a reality. Thanks for any help you can give.
What your money will pay for:
$8,136 = SDSU Tuition
$19,330 = Dorm room and food
$1,113 = Transportation
$1,091 = Books and supplies
$1,814 = Miscellaneous costs
A breakdown of SDSU expenses can be found at: https://admissions.sdsu.edu/about_sdsu/costs_of_attendance
* Students are required to live on-campus their first two years and meal plans are included.