<p>TokenAdult,</p>
<p>Your post is a good description of the current approach for “tax-funded FA”. But that’s just the status quo. The real question is whether or not the status quo is valid.</p>
<p>An eighteen-year-old is an adult with parents who are not legally responsible for him/her in the eyes of our law - except when it comes to paying for college. This is hypocritical and leads to lots of dysfunctional economic consequences - exorbitant college cost inflation, debt levels among aging workers - including widespread tapping into home equite debt, and finally an unhealthy psychology between parent and child at the life juncture when the child should be breaking free of, not becoming increasingly dependent upon, the parent.</p>
<p>If parental income was not considered in setting a price of attendance, college tuition levels would be drastically lower. Allowing colleges to essentiall raid the parents’ finances just drives upward the cost to attend.</p>
<p>That’s the nature of subsidies.</p>