<p>"I wonder why a scholarship would only be considered "merit" if it went to a tippy-top student, or if it were granted by an elite school, whereas you call other scholarships "tuition discounts?" </p>
<p>I'm with you. I consider ALL aid to be merit scholarships, and if they want my d., I want to know how much they are expecting me to pay for the privilege of my loaning her to them. Doesn't really matter if she gets "close to a full ride", 90% of the cost when the full-freight is $50k, or nothing whatsoever when the full-cost is $5k - it works out to $5k either way, and that's the bottom line.</p>
<p>"HYP are totally pricing the middle class out of attending because they don't HAVE to give merit $$. Is this a point of pride?"</p>
<p>In a word, yes. It makes the leisure good seem that much more valuable when it is less attainable.</p>