I got this in the mail a couple months ago, and this is the exact wording:
“Thank you for your interest in the University of Chicago. We seek to attract students of all backgrounds, regardless of financial circumstances. We believe strongly that financial difficulties should never be a barrier when applying to college. If your family is experiencing financial hardship, or is unable to afford the application fee, please submit this UChicago application fee waiver.”
At first I thought they just handed me $75, but after some scrutiny, I think they really don’t want me to use it. Notice that last line. I live in a 4 person 100k household, so I thought it peculiar they would send this. What if I did use it? Would they reject it and be dubious about my application?
They are fishing for applicants so they can reject them.
@Twinmom2014 I have no doubt about that. But that doesn’t answer my question, and free is free as far as I’m concerned.
If you are applying for financial aid it is free to apply with the “no barriers” program that started this year:
https://nobarriers.uchicago.edu/
I was sent a fee waiver for a state university I was planning to apply to because I am a NMSF. I used it though the application fee was only 20 dollars.
If it looks official, then I would say just use it. Really, you are one of thousands applying. Do you really think college admissions has time to play gotcha with you? Perhaps it’s a mistake, but whatever, ever heard of the Bank Error in Your Favor card? 
@Marylandfour I noticed that while researching online. Which makes me question… who ISN’T applying for financial aid? I’ve checked that box on every school I’ve applied to, just because I figured it wouldn’t hurt and I might as well. The fact that they’re willing to give me 75 bucks for checking that box makes me think perhaps I should have had more discretion. I’ll guess I’ll get the waiver through that rather than taking my chance with this ambiguous letter they sent me.
I have twins. They got waivers from some of the same schools but some different ones. My one daughter thought she had a waiver for a particular school but did not. The school never brought it up. She was accepted - FYI