<p>The University endowment went from $13 billion to $15.8 billion during the past year, Princeton University Investment Company (PRINCO) President Andrew Golden said in an interview yesterday.</p>
<pre><code>The endowment's investment return for the 2006-07 fiscal year was 24.7 percent, which marks an increase over last year's 19.5 percent.
</code></pre>
<p>Yet junior faculty earn barely enough to support their families and pay University housing's inflated rents. </p>
<p>Formulas for financial aid to middle-class families $100K, after taxes=70K are expected to foot the whole college bill of 48K. That leaves 22K for mortgage, food, medical for the rest of the family for 12 months=1600 per month. How can colleges justify the math? </p>
<p>A large portion of parents just lie and hide assets on their forms. (Have you noticed the phenomenon of some full-aid or dubious-aid students showing up to school with new TVs, stereos, Ipods, designer label clothes and slick cars talking about their European vacations, while the middle-class kids worked two jobs, haven't ever been on exotic vacations and their clothes come from TJMaxx? There seems to be no accountability, nor rewards for honest families that actually scrimped and saved for 20 years. </p>
<p>Current example: Ivy student who spent entire gap year riding in horse shows with owned thoroughbreds, whose parent sits on the boards of multiple corporations, reveals he/she has never worked a job one day, yet receives some aid. Hmm....is this "need", or "creative accounting" by parents?</p>
<p>Yet, despite all your griping, the system works extremely well and is extremely generous, as almost any current student would tell you.</p>
<p>wow, man. princeton may not be perfect, but it pays its faculty better than any school but harvard (whose cost of living is higher), houses a greater fraction of its graduate students than any of its peer institutions, and spends a greater fraction of its budget on financial aid than any of its peers, allowing its undergraduates to graduate with the lowest average debt of any major university in the country. work remains to be done, especially in getting low- and middle-income students to apply in the first place, but princeton treats them pretty well once they enroll.</p>
<p>just as an example, among princeton students from middle-income families (annual income between $75,000 and $150,000), more than 90% qualify for aid from princeton, and they receive an average grant (not loan) from princeton of $27,300. that should leave their families enough leftover for mortgage, food, medical, AND a spree at tj maxx.</p>
<p>does having an uncle who donates millions of dollars to princeton every year (and i'm not exagerating), and who has 4 kids who each went to princeto nand now give quite hefty donations of their own help me in admissions in any way? or are there a lot of other cases like me?</p>
<p>That's where the word 'nepotism' came from.</p>
<p>fauve is right...I have a friend who is on financial aid and scholarships (he also has a job w/ the university as part of the requirement.) Yet, he has hundreds if not thousands of dollars of ridiculously cool electronics in his room - giant LCD monitor, HD TV w/ HBO, etc., and nice clothes and everything.</p>
<p>A lot of kids who are on aid are still by rich my most people's standards, just not as rich (or as honest!) as those who are not on aid.</p>
<p>"Formulas for financial aid to middle-class families $100K, after taxes=70K are expected to foot the whole college bill of 48K."</p>
<p>What? Only if they have substantial investments or cash on hand. Assuming little net worth outside of home equity, a family of three that takes home $70k/per year should have an EFC of under $20k/year. And that's with only one child in college. Now, that's a lot of money, but it's WAY less than $48k.</p>