<p>In case you didn't already know. </p>
<p>Stanford eliminates tuition for all families with less than $100,000 income.
Harvard only eliminates tuition for all families with less than $60,000 income.
At that level ($60,000 or less), Stanford eliminates the cost of room and board. </p>
<p>West Coast (Stanford) > East Coast (Harvard)</p>
<p>We're on break this week so I can't double check, but I'm pretty sure a letter we received from Stanford to our office (Counseling) also indicated that for families earning between $100k-$200K, Stanford was reducing tuition to 10% of adjusted gross income. </p>
<p>That is huge for California families who have a very high cost of living and earn in this bracket and would normally not qualify for decent aid through FAFSA.</p>
<p>I hope MIT announces something similar........ I really want to go there! haha Also now I wish I'd applied to Stanford...</p>
<p>Yes, but for middle-income families, which are they better off at? After all, the majority of students are middle-class.</p>
<p>@kyledavid80, a person should always select their college based on the rankings in the student's major (ex: Stanford engineering > Harvard engineering, yet Harvard law > Stanford law). However, in a theoretical point of view, Stanford offers a wider income gap, therefore it is much easier on the middle class. Stanford also has a larger class size, thus they are giving out more money anyways. </p>
<p>I am surprised this is not on the front page of CC. Harvard's financial thing went up everywhere, yet this gets little attention, but then again it is only a day old. Stanford is so tight. My mom freaked out when she heard about this. She is so happy she doesnt have to pay anything now. lol.</p>
<p>^^ Well.... it's not exactly not paying anything, right? There is still room and board, plus fees, plus whatever other costs there are besides tuition...</p>
<p>@lalaloo6, yeah I understand what u are saying. I will still have to pay fees and books, but thats about it. My room and board are covered under their new program. My parents didnt make more than 60g last year, so yeah....</p>
<p>bus52, are you kidding me? Please tell me it's true, PLEASE!</p>
<p>FredFredBurger, it's true. It was in the news and I read it the following day in WSJ. However, it can be misleading, they do take into account of assets such as home equity, etc..</p>
<p>
[quote]
a person should always select their college based on the rankings in the student's major
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I highly disagree. That can be a factor, but isn't necessarily. (Not to mention at top colleges, for the majority of programs, you should be in safe hands.)</p>
<p>
[quote]
Stanford engineering > Harvard engineering
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I agree that Stanford > Harvard for engineering, but if you chose Harvard and planned on going into engineering, it's not as though you'd be disadvantaged -- you'd still get an excellent education and a degree that would take you far.</p>
<p>
[quote]
yet Harvard law > Stanford law
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Really, no, they're so close that one really isn't 'better' than the other.</p>
<p>At any rate, when I said "for middle-income families, which are they better off at?" I obviously meant in terms of financial aid. In this case, Harvard is clearly better than Stanford for middle-income families (and they make up the majority of admits).</p>
<p>Thanks Columbia Student and bus52, I guess Stanford's plan is more comparable to H&Y's than I had previously thought.</p>
<p>Don't forget about assets, from Stanford's FA website:</p>
<p>"For applicants who report total annual parent income up to $100,000, we generally consider typical assets to be an adjusted total net worth of less than $250,000. Adjusted total net worth usually reflects the sum of the following amounts: </p>
<p>Cash, savings, checking
Investments
Home equity, capped at 1.2 times annual income
Equity in real estate other than the home
Business net worth
We do not include formal retirement assets (401k, 403b, IRA, Keogh) in our analysis. </p>
<p>The Financial Aid Office reserves the right to make the final determination of the expected family contribution, in consideration of all factors affecting a familys overall financial situation and ability to pay. "</p>
<p>I haven't seen anything from H or Y that discuss how assets factor into their new FA policies.</p>
<p>You haven't seen anything from Harvard because they are trying to keep it as opaque as possible. Its a game.</p>