<p>^^reminds me of an old Saturday Night Live sketch concerning Exxon: 'they don't care bcos they don't have to.' :)</p>
<p>knightshield:</p>
<p>I don't know about Yale but the new Harvard initiative is hardly simple. It is entirely opaque as to how much you will pay at Harvard.</p>
<p>The timing of Stanford is also pretty good. Tomorrow is the start of the Annual Parents' Weekend. One can expect many smiles on the faces of people who have family income in the ranges targeted by Stanford. </p>
<p>I wonder if Stanford plans to close its financial aid office tomorrow.</p>
<p>While most of this thread has discussed how this move may (or may not) help Stanford compete for cross admits with Harvard...no one seems to be discussing what is likely another significant reason for this policy: There is a whole group of top caliber students from upper middle class families who are not applying to Stanford. And...for a few years...they weren't applying to Harvard, Yale or Princeton, either. They're applying to schools where they can get merit $$. </p>
<p>Or...their parents have told them (as many on this site seem to have told their kids) that they'll pay an amount equivalent to in-state tuition room and board at whatever their flagship university is. The amounts Stanford, Harvard and others are giving to middle class families allows those schools to "compete" with the in-state flagship schools (and the very generous merit FA privates) for top students whose parents may not have previously allowed them to apply to a need-only FA institution.</p>
<p>I have a question.</p>
<p>This article was dated back in February 2008, in which (correct me if I’m wrong) the percussions of the economic downturn haven’t been fully felt yet.</p>
<p>But because of the current state of our economy, is there a likely chance that next year’s financial aid will drop drastically? And is there any safety net for those that cannot meet the rising cost?</p>
<p>Article from the Feb. 11, 2009 Stanford News Service:</p>
<p>[Tuition</a> raised, but financial aid remains top priority](<a href=“Stanford Report”>Stanford Report)</p>
<p>Here is an article from the March 11, 2009 Stanford Daily:</p>
<p>[Financial</a> Aid Safe From Cuts](<a href=“http://www.stanforddaily.com/cgi-bin/?p=3264]Financial”>http://www.stanforddaily.com/cgi-bin/?p=3264).</p>
<p>Bottom line, Stanford is committed to continuing their current FA policy.</p>
<p>Haha, you dont understand how relieved I am. Thank you for the response =)</p>
<p>Increase the tuition and increase financial aid. Result- bad news for the full-pay families.</p>
<p><3 Stanford <3</p>