<p>To imply that a two wage earner family (say one cop, one nurse) with 3 kids is "less rich" (could have a combined income of $130,000) is more a commentary on your value system than on any school's financial aid policy. To think such a family could afford $200,000 per kid after tax is ridiculous. Economic diversity is enhanced on a campus by inclusion of the working middle class.</p>
<p>Stopped hunting for the twisted school desire to only admit the elite (1900 - 1965 thinking) and look at the facts of the more recent years. Financial aid increases have genuinely helped people (and the schools through diversity) and the Boards and donors of those schools should be proud of their altruistic accomplishments. Layoff the marxist rant!</p>
<p>"Stopped hunting for the twisted school desire to only admit the elite (1900 - 1965 thinking) and look at the facts of the more recent years."</p>
<p>Look at the data. My alma mater (Williams) is less economically diverse than it was 25 years ago, and I think that is true at a host of other prestige institutions. The increases in list prices have been LESS than the increase in assets/income of those in the top 3% of the population. So more and more of the subsidy from the endowment - MUCH TOO MUCH - has been going to those least in need of it! I'd prefer to see a little MORE in the way of the altruistic behavior you describe.</p>
<p>I think you misread me. I am IN FAVOR of raising list prices, and having MORE of that subsidy applied to financial aid for those below the top 3% of the population. It IS ridiculous to think that such a family could afford $200k per kid. And the reality is that they don't. They either receive a subsidy, or they go to the state schools.</p>
<p>Frankly, I'm not particularly bothered by what the prestige institutions do with their money. It's their money, and they can do with it what they want. And they aren't particularly relevant or important to the educational life of the country, even if we spend all this time on these boards talking about them. I'm much more concerned with how unaffordable the state schools - which do have a duty to educate the vast majority of the popultion - are rapidly becoming for so many.</p>
<p>Soon, the only ppl that are going to be able to attend college are the sons and daughters of millionairs. colleges are even running away the kids of parents wiht jobs like doctors and lawyers...my college is 45000 a yr...RIDICULOUS! thanks god for merit and finaid! soo everyone will need finaid and it will become useless.</p>
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...my college is 45000 a yr...RIDICULOUS!
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<p>I don't know what college you attend, but I would make a large wager that the average student pays somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000 per year for tuition, room, board, and fees.</p>
<p>Colleges now have a variable pricing policy, just like the airlines. Just like the airlines, they use a variable pricing policy to fill the seats and maximize revenues. While the sticker price may well be of interest to an individual student, it is really not particularly useful to a larger discussion of college pricing.</p>
<p>Among the universe of colleges and universities, there are substantial discounts (including full-ride scholarships) to students from every income level. If you are a multi-millionaire with 2300 SATs, I guarantee that you can go out and find a full-ride deal, if that is your goal.</p>
<p>I think that Grinnell is making a mistake. People in general would rather go to school at places like Macalester or St. Olaf that are relatively near big cities than to go to Grinnell that (from what a friend who visited told me) is in the middle of a sea of corn in a state that isn't among the country's big tourist meccas.</p>
<p>What Grinnell had going for it most was providing an outstanding education at an excellent price. Without the latter, I'm betting that it will have difficulty attracting students.</p>
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What Grinnell had going for it most was providing an outstanding education at an excellent price. Without the latter, I'm betting that it will have difficulty attracting students.
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<p>That doesn't have to change. Just raise the sticker price and rebate it back in the form of merit scholarship discounts. It makes the college even more desireable...more prestige from the higher price and the ego stroke of little Johnny getting a merit scholarship because he's such a great scholar. It's a proven formula.</p>