<p>Generally the Ivies are better at meeting need for low EFC students, Northwestern not so much. Our EFC is around 6K and my son or us would have had to supply around 12K to attend NU through loans or other means. At Yale, he is responsible for term job and summer earnings that equates to 4.5K. He will have no loans and we are not expected to contribute. The endowments at the upper tier schools allow the schools to meet the needs of the deserving students who would otherwise not be able to attend these schools. Of course, with a 6-8% acceptance rate getting admitted is the hard part.</p>