<p>my counselor said no, but i remember reading somewhere that historically stanford's grants have not been up to par with HYP. do all these colleges use the same formula to calculate the amount of grant money, since they are all need based? i.e. HYP and stanford will offer the same exact fin aid grants to a particular studnet?</p>
<p>I heard stanford offers loans, is this true?</p>
<p>Stanford does offer loans, such as the Federal Perkins and Stafford loans. Go to their financial aid site for more details.</p>
<p>I can't speak for HYP, but I know my son received excellent need-based aid from Stanford. There were loans, but they were minimal (only $7,250 after four years). He did have a couple small outside scholarships that reduced loans, but only $1500 a year after the freshman year.</p>
<p>the perkins loan is what stanford usually gives, and the most it can be a year is $4000. mine was $3,500 which was easily covered by scholarships. so no loans for me for the next 3 years since i actually called and held some of my extra scholarships for my soph and junior year. and i'm confident i'll get the $1000 i need for senior year later by applying to scholarships during junior year.</p>
<p>and i do believe that harvard gives better fin aid than stanford usually, but not by much. but i know a girl who got into harvard and stanford and she said that harvard offered more money. don't know about princeton and yale though. but stanford is def on the same level.</p>
<p>princeton, alone among elites, is no-loan (i.e. all-grant) - a big reason why it tops u.s. news's rankings of schools whose students graduate with the least debt.</p>
<p>Princeton has the best financial aid in my opinion.</p>
<p>Yale and Harvard are close seconds.</p>
<p>Stanford is not anywhere near their level yet. HYP have replaced loans with grants, and also families making less than 40-45,000 are not expected to contribute a penny.</p>
<p>But then again, we cannot blame Stanford. HYP do have tons of more money than Stanford. However, I think Stanford is steadily getting up there.</p>
<p>Are you sure about the "tons of more money"? Last time I checked, Stanford's endowment was extremely close to Princeton's (it is currently $12.4 billion, courtesy of <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2005/09/12/daily9.html?from_rss=1)%5B/url%5D">http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2005/09/12/daily9.html?from_rss=1)</a>, and it appears to be growing faster. I don't have exact figures for Princeton, but I have read sources which state that in recent years, Stanford's endowment has grown at a faster pace. In a few years, it may very well surpass Princeton's, and then who knows? In ten years, Stanford's endowment may surpass Yale's as well.</p>
<p>I think Princeton has the best fin. aid., too. Who can beat no loans? And, Princeton doesn't factor in a person's house as an asset, I've heard.</p>
<p>In that regard, I certainly do agree. Princeton's financial aid policy is quite generous.</p>
<p>Yup, I think that all elite colleges, if they, including Stanford, wanted to give generous fin. aid packets to their students as Princeton is doing, could do it. But, this isn't going to be happening in the near future. I think the big question for many of us is how much do we want to spend for a certificate that has the name of a prestigious undergrad on it.</p>
<p>keep in mind, jerry, that stanford has three times as many students as princeton.</p>
<p>I never disputed that fact. I am aware that Princeton's endowment on a per capita basis is considerably more than HYS's. I was merely questioning the statement of HYP having "tons more money" than Stanford, which based on raw endowment and endowment growth is a gross exaggeration.</p>
<p>"re you sure about the "tons of more money"? Last time I checked, Stanford's endowment was extremely close to Princeton's"</p>
<p>last time I checked, Princeton had significantly smaller population than Stanford. By tons more money, I meant "per capita"...sorry that was a mistake on my part.</p>
<p>If you read my post, it says STANFORD is steadily catching up.</p>
<p>If you meant per capita, then yes, you are absolutely correct. Stanford's larger undergrad population and immensely larger graduate population takes quite a toll on its per capita endowment. Fortunately, it has one of the highest percentage growths, so it will hopefully make up for this in the relatively near future.</p>