<p>You really cannot negotiate, but you can say “no thanks” and vote with your feet, and dollars. Too many students pay less than full fare. Why should I, having come from nothing and receiving no need-based aid back in the day, have to pay more than other parents? Nowadays I would have qualified for a free ride at Harvard. It would be much more egalitarian to lower tuition and fees for EVERYONE and do away with financial aid grants. Imagine private schools at half their present cost, which is where they should be given the outrageous suprainflationary rate at which they have raised tuition and fees. Revenue would remain the same. Many public schools with relatively low tuition and fees have done just this. Loans should be the only financial aid. Merit based scholarships are another thing altogether.</p>