<p>I thought I'd ask a substantive, factual question that I'm sure is on the minds of a lot of parents. Is it really, truly possible for middle-class (here defined as near the median United States income level) families with more than one child to afford to send a child to Princeton? It's my understanding that Princeton has been a leader among Ivy League schools in restructuring its financial aid policies to make Princeton more affordable to families in all income ranges. I was told by one CC forum participant that I have even been quoted (by my CC screenname) for praising Princeton for its financial aid policies on a CC forum about some other Ivy League college. </p>
<p>What is the reality you have found in high school class of 2006? Was Princeton's financial aid offer as good as you expected? Was it even better than you expected? Do all of you think, up and down the income range, that Princeton is an affordable choice for ambitious students? </p>
<p>Thanks for any been-there-done-thats you have to share. Best wishes to all the new Tigers for a very successful school year.</p>
<p>Hi.
On the Princeton website, there is a financial aid calculator.
You put in approximate details of your financial circumstances, confidential of course, and they give you an indication of how much financial aid you are likely to be offered.
My actual financial aid offer is very similar to the approximate figure I got using the calculator, so I think it is a very good and honest indicator.</p>
<p>It's good to hear that the online calculator was a good predictor of your actual financial aid offer. I appreciate Princeton putting that up on their Web site. </p>
<p>How about other CC participants? Did Princeton's financial aid offer meet your expectations?</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies in posts number 4 and 5. I really like getting a reality check on this, as in other CC threads there have been parents saying that a policy like Princeton's is too good to be true. We would have to pay out of pocket for our son to attend Princeton, according to the calculator, but what we would have to pay out of pocket is less than list price at State U, and Princeton is plainly a better undergraduate experience than State U for the students who are admitted.</p>
<p>The initial evdence seems to indicate that Harvard trumped Princeton in financial aid this year, with its waiver of tuiion etc for those with a family income og $60.000 or less, and a substantian reduction for those with a family income of under $80,000.</p>
<p>The proof is in Harvard's near-80% yield rate in contrast to Princeton's yield rate, which will probably not exceed 68.5% - below not only Harvard's, but Yale's and Stanford's as well.</p>
<p>I wouldn't call that proof so much as an issue to investigate further. You recall that there was a thread on the Harvard Forum about whether Harvard's financial aid offers are the real deal, and now might be a good time to revive that thread with a call to students in high school class of 2006 to report in with their experiences about Harvard's offers. Some parents in that thread seemed to be very skeptical of public statements about new financial aid initiatives, but what I didn't see in that thread were any personal reports that someone applied, was admitted, applied for financial aid, and then was financially unable to attend. </p>
<p>I have no ax to grind against one school or another in this thread, but if friendly competition makes all the elite schools in the United States more CLEARLY affordable for genuinely middle-class families, I'm all for that. See you over in the other forum.</p>
<p>"The proof is in Harvard's near-80% yield rate in contrast to Princeton's yield rate, which will probably not exceed 68.5% - below not only Harvard's, but Yale's and Stanford's as well."</p>
<p>that's pretty weak "proof," since yield depends on a host of different factors, of which aid is just one. harvard's yield has long been higher than princeton's, for example, even when princeton was for years the unequivocal leader in aid matters. and stanford's yield has long been "up there" with HYP, despite being a definite "follower" in such matters, and even then not a terribly good one.</p>
<p>I agree with quirkily. It will be really difficult to find another school with a financial aid program like Princeton's (yes, Byerly, even Harvard's doesn't compare).</p>
<p>Princeton's financial aid surpassed my expectations by far and beat out the aid from my other schools.</p>
<p>It is difficult indeed to imagine any "proof" which you would be willing to accept, given your leanings, on an issue to which I have paid close attention.</p>
<p>I have my own "evidence" gathered through a survey of cross admit financial aid numbers voluntarily supplied to me in the last several weeks by about 15 CC posters or their parents - but I hardly expect you to alter your own views in response to anything so unscientific.</p>
<p>Absent a sworn affidavit submitted by each cross admit opting for Harvard over Princeton (probably between 75% and 85% of them) I can't imagine anything you'd find convincing ... and even then you'd probably challenge the accuracy of the survey!</p>
<p>I do, however, call your attention to this reported statistic: the yield rate at Harvard for those in the group eligible for the new "financial aid initiative" was 85.3% - substantially above the overall yield rate of 80% or a little bit lower - demonstrating that at least among lower income applicants to Harvard the financial awards offered seem to have been a strong draw indeed. If Harvard lost anyone to Princeton based on a superior financial aid offer - it was clearly a pretty random circumstance.</p>
<p>To quote:</p>
<p>"Eighty percent of students admitted to the Class of 2010 will enter Harvard in September, a slight increase over last year's 78 percent. Led by an 85.3 percent yield for admitted students eligible for the newly enhanced Harvard Financial Aid Initiative (HFAI) for low- and middle-income families, the Class of 2010 will be the most economically diverse in Harvard's history."</p>
<p>Last year, Princetons financial aid package was the best one that my child was offered. The all grant nature of Princetons financial aid package made a big difference. I cant say this for certain but I think that Princeton may penalize less parents who have substantial equity in their homes.</p>
<p>the only way to compare individual offers is "head to head" - although the relative yield rate among those receiving finacial aid is certainly a powerful indicator.</p>
<p>Oh, I'm very willing to be convinced on this point one way or the other. Not knowing, this many year's in advance, where my children will apply, I may not have the privilege of seeing a head-to-head comparison based on my own family's financial data. But for the applicants who applied in this year's cycle, I'm happy to hear that they appear to be satisfied with Princeton's financial aid offers, and I recall hearing much the same over on the Harvard Forum (but it probably would be a good idea to revive the thread at this time of year, now that everyone has seen what each school has to offer). I'm always glad to be convinced by facts, and I try (with, I'm sure, a few human-error exceptions) to keep each college's specific forum mostly a discussion of that specific college. </p>
<p>A pointer to published sources very specifically focused on this issue would be helpful, I'm sure. I'd read what was printed there.</p>
<p>Princeton offered the best financial aid package out of all the schools I applied to. It even costs me less to attend Pton with FA than the State U here. Replacing loans with grants was fantastic, :)</p>
<p>The OP's concern was the validity of what they have heard regarding excellent fin-aid packages Princeton offers. </p>
<p>Princeton like many other top tier schools are very generous with aid and unlike some others do not penalize for the enormous home equity many parents have amassed recently. Other schools such as Amherst and Williams might even match or beat Princeton by affording lower income students an opportunity at a paid in full with no loan education.
Harvard and Yale have recently entered this elite group with similar deals but remember that Princeton paved the way. </p>
<p>It should also be said the OP wasn't asking about yield percentages but rather financial aid packages.</p>
<p>Princeton isn't more affordable than my state university, since I got a full ride there, but it's still an incredible deal. It actually costs my family less to send me to Princeton than to my expensive private high school (even thought I got great fin. aid there, too)!</p>
<p>On the point of comparing Harvard's and Princeton's financial aid systems, if your family earns under 60k a year you pay nothing or close to nothing. Thus both systems are comparable at the low end of the income spectrum.</p>
<p>Besides, Princeton guarantees a no loans system -- other colleges continue to count loans as part of financial aid, but Princeton has clearly moved ahead on this point, and the other colleges have yet to catch up.</p>
<p>Finally, this endless bickering is stupid. Just apply to both schools and see what aid packages you get. If you want to compare schools, listen to students, not to old alums who fervently promote their own schools and bash others. This board certainly tends to facilitate that trap. Once you start comparing schools by statistics, you lose the meaning of what college is about: your own personal experience.</p>