<p>Pell Grants should have been cut instead.</p>
<p>All top-tier institutions practice need-blind admissions and offer full need-based support. (All Ivies do so. Stanford and MIT do so. Based on a previous post as many as 66 institutions may do so.) Students with financial need pay nothing.</p>
<p>In contrast, all top-tier institutions eschew merit-based support. Students
with FAFSA EFCs even a cent over $60,000 pay full fare, even if their
families cannot contribute or choose not to contribute.</p>
<p>Why should the government be duplicating need-based support for those who
already can get it from their institutions?</p>
<p>Why should the government be eliminating merit-based support for those who
cannot get it from their institutions?</p>
<p>Most important, why should the government be endorsing mediocrity by
providing educational support through a mechanism that does not require, or
even consider, educational merit?</p>