MovieChat Forums > All the Right Moves (1983) Discussion > Why couldn't Lisa go to college?

Why couldn't Lisa go to college?

posted 20 years ago by alomba1328
24 replies | jump to latest

Watching this movie one would think that public colleges and Stafford federal student loans did not exist in the early 1980s. In truth, any of the kids in this film could have easily gone to just about any college willing to take them, scholarship or not (since we're talking about people with B and C averages, we can assume that ultra expensive ivy leagues are not in contention.) I found this misrepresentation of facts in this film to be mildly annoying, especially where Lisa starts whining that she is destined to scan items at a checkout counter for the rest of her life because she can't get a music scholarship. Their shoool should fire their college advisors.

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[–] quinnum 19 years ago

Basically, student loans/scholarships/etc are paid directly to the institution. Grants/grants-in-aid and most scholarships are for a "set" amount, or cover tuition-only, or some comb like tuition & fees or tuition and books.

She would have needed money for food, housing, etc. And would probably have needed to pay deposits, as well.

Maybe her family already had enough mouths to feed that college was just out of the question...

[–] shenandoahpride 18 years ago

She would have needed money for food, housing, etc. And would probably have needed to pay deposits, as well.

There is always Work Study, BEOG (Basic Educational Opportunity Grants) and SEOG (Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants) ... all of which I had to supplement my scholarship to a major university. So there's always a way.

Give me love , give me love , give me peace on earth.

[–] marymargaret5 18 years ago

Absolutelt there was a way to go to college, It would have meant incurring some debt, but it is worth it!

[–] lanemyer85 17 years ago

Yes it's a bit naive in the notion that Lisa had no chance to attend college, but clearly the producers are just trying to play up the no future angle for non-athletes getting scholorships, with Lisa saying, "no one in Ampipe gives music scholorships, just football". Of course she could get a couple different types of grants or student loans that could have provided her tuition, room and board and books to any school that she was accepted to. I'm sure that's why they didn't even bother to mention student loans. Hell, even Stef could have taken out a student loan and tried to walk onto the football team at some other college and be rewarded a scholorship the following year.

[–] intermissiontime 19 years ago

Wasn`t Lisa a year behind Steph?

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[–] euro4569 15 years ago

and then even as recent as the 80s, many blue collar parents frowned upon their children going to college because it seemed to them that bettering oneself (in an educational way) was acting like they were too good for their family or not appreciating what they already had. Also, many parents today feel that if they weren't able to be successful, their children should not be able to be successful as well. Sad but true.

[–] stagebandman 15 years ago

Just reading this after watching the movie on Encore. The movie is from '83, and I can tell you from personal experience that a four year college was very tough to pay for then. In 1984, President Reagan pulled all the government and pell grants. Without that help, I was unable to pay for my senior college year at the University Of Northern Iowa without a loan, and I did not want to go that route as it was a big hardship on my parents. As a result, I never completed my degree. Were there ways to do it? Yes, but working class communities need to look at the bottom line first, and as the youngest of three, two years of which had us all in college at the same time, I just could not justify the expense at the time. I blame only myself for not ever finishing, though.

If we all liked the same movie, there'd only be one movie!

[–] Nikon11 12 years ago

I think that it was more of a mind-set, and general non-acceptance by her family and the community.

State schools were very inexpensive back then.

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[–] elizabethdaugherty 11 years ago

It was 1983. Not everyone went to college. Only twenty girls in my graduating class of 600 went to college including me.

Even then, I was the only one in my family to go to college, my mother resented it being as how she had the "don't better yourself over your parents" mindset and I had no support system.

I figure Lisa's parents told her something like "You don't need to go to college. You can work at the bank as a teller or Food Mart as a clerk. You'll get married and have a family." Something supportive like that. (note the sarcasm).

[–] Nikon11 11 years ago

by elizabethdaugherty

It was 1983. Not everyone went to college. Only twenty girls in my graduating class of 600 went to college including me.

Are kidding me? While I'm sure that you're right about your own experience and high school, the year 1983 has nothing to do with that. You mention it like it's 1883 or some other time.

I'm pretty sure that things aren't that different now compared to 1983, as far as girls going to college.

Maybe it's more of a regional thing.

[–] jefgg 11 years ago

Lisa's situation was exaggerated for effect. The movie made it seem that the only way out of Ampipe was a football scholarship.

It if funny that you mention "college advisors". My high school had "guidance counselors". I assume they are the same thing. The guidance counselors at my high school knew absolutely nothing. I have heard the same thing from many people who attended other high schools.

[–] Nikon11 11 years ago

I agree. As I wrote above - I think that it was more of a resigning yourself to what you think or accept as your fate.

[–] jefgg 11 years ago

I don't believe in fate, but many people do.

[–] Nikon11 11 years ago

Ha, no, neither do I.

But you must notice that some people definitely do resign themselves into accepting what they think is their position in life.

I don't know if it's a lack of ambition, or that they don't realise that they can break away from what the see and know. Maybe they just don't know anyone who has done it.

[–] brian-cartwright2 10 years ago

I graduated from Pitt-Johnstown in '83. The tuition was $1200 per semester when I finished. More than half the students were female.

It's true though that many people in town couldn't afford it. There were many kids who hated living there. One girl I dated told me she would marry the ugliest guy in town if he would take her out of the city. She didn't marry me, even though I did leave town. She's still married to the same guy, and never left town.

[–] baran_erik 9 years ago

Loans and grants don't cover everything. Not even close.

[–] Nikon11 9 years ago

In 1983 it wasn't all that expensive to attend a state college/university.

[–] timmaninaz 9 years ago

In enrolled at Kutztown University in PA in 1986, three years after this movie was made. I was from NJ but attending there on a football scholarship. However, the vast majority of students there were from PA. It wasn't that expensive to attend there if you were from PA and the cost of housing and food also wasn't too bad. Actually, the first girl a dated there was from western PA and also a band member. She had a partial scholarship for that. If Lisa was that good, perhaps she could have tried for that as well.