Stanford has fabulous need based aid that has NOTHING to do with the FAFSA EFC. For income earners below a certain threshold, the cost to attend is 10% of their income.
But free advice here…I would suggest you stop talking about college money with your friends. You will never know the whole family financial story, or the whole college story. And really, it’s not your business anyway.
We heard some very “tall tales” during our kid’s college admissions round. Our favorite was the girl who got a $20,000 merit scholarship from Wellesley. Wellesley doesn’t give merit awards.