The Truth About the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship Program

I found this comment on a blog. I think it outlines some if the misinformation or lack of clear information about the John and Abigail Adams
Scholarship Program.

Stephanie, Just a note -- if you happen to be referring to the John & Abigail Adams scholarship, it covers only tuition and not fees. Unfortunately, the state legislature/college system has been playing games for years over tuition & fees. The tuition paid by college students at state schools goes directly to the state gov't, and then they pay the colleges some money as a part of the state budgeting process. So the actual campus where the student is enrolled doesn't see the tuition money directly. However, the fees charged by each campus go directly to that campus. So over the years, the colleges haven't increased tuition a whole lot, but they have increased fees to the point that the fees are now a lot more than the tuition. For example, at the flagship state U, UMass Amherst, the in-state tuition for one year is $1714, while the fees for one year are $10,018. Here's a link to the summary of charges per semester: http://umass.edu/bursar/files/full-time%20ugrad.pdf If you ask me, the whole thing is quite deceiving. Students are told that they are receiving a full-tuition scholarship, and the fact is that it only overs 15% of the total yearly tuition & fees. The politicians get to say that they are awarding huge number of full-tuition scholarships, when the students get just a pittance. Sorry to burst your bubble if you were referring to the John & Abigail Adams scholarship, but I guess it's better that you know the truth now rather than later. Brenda

Click here for the full blog posting.

Click here for information about this scholarship from the Department of Education.

Unknown, Brenda. "FAFSA help pay for housing." The Well Trained Minds Forum. 01 Jan 2008. Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. 29 Oct 2010 <http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213070>.