<p>My point was, though, that the more expensive schools like HPYS are more generous with need-based aid. State universities often lack the funds to provide needy students with much scholarship aid.</p>
<p>What seems inexpensive to middle and upper class families is extremely expensive to lower income people. When I taught at a second/third tier public university, many of the students with the worst scholarship aid were low income. The best aid went to the most well off students, who earned great merit aid due to their scores.</p>
<p>I saw low income, first generation students who were having to work 30 hours a week while taking a full load. Sometimes they were also sending $ home, and also had major loans, far more than the $20,000 that's the average that college students in the US have. Some students were literally selling their blood to earn money. Many students couldn't afford text books, and were too embarassed to tell the profs, so they had difficulty keeping up with coursework.</p>
<p>I'd never heard of anything like that when I went to an Ivy. I had a couple of friends who were from very low income homes, but they still were getting good scholarship aid, and sacrifice for them meant taking the bus hundreds of miles to go home for Christmas. They didn't have to work 30 hours a week or sell their blood.</p>