"The average freshman student at a private college got about half off tuition and fees last year, according to annual study released today.
Almost 90% of full-time freshmen received a discount on tuition, covering an estimated 55% of it in 2015-16. That’s up slightly, from 54% the previous year." …
http://time.com/money/4329962/college-tuition-discount-financial-aid/
90% getting a discount is not too surprising when probably over 90% of families and students cannot afford to pay the list price of a private college or university. But then many not receive enough of a discount to avoid debt exceeding the federal direct loans.
Do these numbers include only the students who can afford to go with the discounted costs they get? My BFF’s older sister could not afford to attend because she was “gapped” so she is taking a year off to try to save.