My mother and father had a good laugh over a recent study suggesting that a majority of parents overestimate the cost of a college education. Perhaps this cadre of overestimating parents doesn’t fall into the category of middle-class families who are thwarted by college financial-aid policies that deny need-based aid even in the face of consistently rising tuition costs.
I know that my parents have estimated the cost of my continuing education as “astronomical,” and, unfortunately, they are exactly right.
Ideally a student should be able to mediate these rising costs through a sort of intellectual free enterprise, where the best and brightest students are rewarded for their superior work and potential with merit-based scholarships. As a finalist in the Honored Scholar Program of the National Alliance for Excellence, I have experienced firsthand the feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment that come from being recognized for academic achievement.
Unfortunately this sort of affirmation of scholastic worth is difficult to find. The National Alliance for Excellence is only one of a handful of organizations that will support superior academic endeavors, regardless of other circumstances.
If this nation’s best students are to reach their highest potential, many more organizations need to step forward and proclaim their commitment to the education of this country’s future leaders.
