<p>I agree at bottom with Mini's perspective re college's self-interest in targeting middle-income students for financial relief, but might spin it slightly differently: ADcoms at selective schools see the middle income bands of their admitted classes over the past decade shrinking (both the yields of middle income students and their numbers as a percentage of the incoming classes). Those middle-income band students are just as qualified as the higher and lower income kids, so, in effect, they're admitting less qualified classes than they might if they could recapture some of those kids.</p>
<p>Footnote to another strand of the thread:</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'd like to see USNWR list the average debt
[/quote]
USNWR publishes the average debt for the latest graduating classes for each school. I don't think it appears in in the print edition, but is available in the on-line version.</p>