<p>Only within reason. I'm not suggesting that any student can buy a spot in any school with a full tuition check. But, within a school's "range", schools are looking to maximize the tuition revenues.</p>
<p>It's actually instructive to look at the discount rates of schools. Combine the overall rates with a look at the proportion of need-aid to merit aid, and you can get a pretty good handle on the school's admissions strategy. </p>
<p>There's a bit of a hinge point at the extreme top end. As you increase in selectivity (i.e. the ability to attract full-fare customers), the discount rate decreases. However, at the extreme top end of the selectivity (and endowment) scale, it flips back the other way and the discount rate increases again at schools that can afford very high levels of need-based aid in order to achieve diversity goals. At the extreme top end, the very fact that the schools attract lots of full-fare customers allows them to fund generous need-based aid.</p>