Brett, I can sympathize with you from across the fence. I teach at a four year community college and hear horror stories from students about financial aid all the time. There is little recourse for students like your daughter. The only financial aid that middle class students can apply for is the dreaded federal aid call Stafford Loans. The government will get you so tied up that you feel like an indentured servant to the government until you pay it off. I advise students to stay away from it if possible. I know from experience.
My school gets so little scholarship money from outside sources that the faculty has to help raise funds for scholarships. We do this on our own time when we are not teaching overload classes, out recruiting, and attending useless committee meetings. Any money we raise has to be matched by the school. Please don't take as me bragging but five years ago I started teaching during the summer semester and donating enough of my summer salary to pay for 1/2 of two private scholarships and the school puts up the other half. The sweet thing is that I get to designate who gets the funds. Yep, white middle class students who would not have a chance at a degree otherwise. I also get to deduct my donation off my taxes. It's a win win situation.
What p!$$es me is that "low' income students, who get the free financial aid,will get their book checks, go to the book store, buy their books and then take the books back unopened and get cash for them. Then they show up for class telling their teachers that their "book money" hasn't arrived. They think they can take a class without a book. I have been teaching long enough to know the "drill." I send them on their way and tell them to come back with a book.
Some advise I give students is to stay away from college book stores. They are a ripoff. Go online and either buy used gooks, rent books, or buy e-books. I am taking a class this semester that required a text book that the book store had priced for $59.00. I bought the e-book version online for $12.37. It is mine until I delete it from my computer. I don't teach Math, but I saved closed to 80%.
