<p>I don’t know about other schools, but at Cornell, you can specify where you want the money to go (i.e., to finaid, a specific department, a library, a specific person…).</p>
<p>Also, I don’t think colleges cost shift (at least the top schools). Most of the top schools have need blind admissions and at least among the ivies, they meet 100% of your need. Some people say that they the student’s geographic location as an indicator of socioeconomic status, but I just don’t think this is the case (at least in terms of trying to get a certain percentage of full pay students). The money that schools get from tuition is actually minuscule compared to the potential billions of dollars they get in gifts a year, not to mention grants from organizations such as NIH, NSF, etc.</p>