<p>It is my understanding that Stanford supplies financial aid for people who are low in income and are of need based priority.
However, a friend of mine couldn't go to Stanford, because she couldn't afford it. </p>
<p>I talked with a friend about this, and he said that Stanford makes sure that anyone who gets accepted into Stanford to be able to go to Stanford financially.</p>
<p>This is a topic that kids always have a tough time with. Stanford is extremely giving but what you consider ‘affordable’ and what a college considers “affordable” are two very different things. (mind you Stanford is one of the best schools in the country when it comes to financial aid) In any case, if you make less than 60K/year Stanford provides tutition, room and board. I forget the cut off for just tutition, probably around 100k. Anything over that number than becomes a calculation game. In any case, if there is a family who makes a 100k, receives 40K in fin aid (basically the tutition cost), they still may feel the additiional 18K (room/board/additional expenses) a year is unafforable. It depends on each families situation. For families making more than 100K then fin aid goes down. In addition, some of the fin aid is also student loans and parent loans. So in the case of the 100k family, not only do they need to come up with 18K but some of th 40k maybe in loans. For example $5500 in student loans and 2000 in work study. I believe the exception to the rule is if the family makes less than 60K not only do they get full tutition/room/board but they also receive that money in grants. They aren’t required to take student loans or parent loans.</p>
<p>I applied for and received FA from Stanford. I am middle class. I am not really sure what your friend means… but from my experience and talking w/ people from other various income levels the FA is based on FAFSA. Albeit the FA is much better than a state school, if you come from middle class America, don’t expect a full ride. However, I found Stanford’s offer to be competitive w/ offers from other schools that are known for good FA. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Our family has been very pleased with Stanford’s financial aid. At our income level, we would not have qualified for needs-based aid at very many universities. However at Stanford, we’ve had appx. 1/2 of the cost covered with grants for my D who just finished her freshman year. My son, who attends a state university, qualifies for no aid. I believe that Stanford works hard to make it financially feasible to attend if you are accepted. (My D’s aid offer from Yale was similiar to Stanford’s)</p>
<p>In general, when someone says they “couldn’t afford” Stanford, what they mean is “we could afford it, but we didn’t want to pay that much.” And that’s certainly a valid reason not to attend: the full cost of Stanford is nothing to sneeze at. However, to say “couldn’t afford” is wrong. Stanford is extremely generous with its financial aid, often increases financial aid packages after an initial offer, etc. Stanford makes it feasible for everyone to attend, but some people simply don’t think that it’s worth to cut back on their lifestyle when they have cheaper options.</p>
<p>My aid from S was about twice as much as what I got from Duke, Penn, and Dartmouth and is loan free. Just an anecdote. </p>
<p>The “cutoffs” are:</p>
<p>60k full ride
100k full tuition</p>