<p>Foomonchew -- Maybe I am reading more into it. I thought it offered a good insight into some of the ways colleges are thinking about tuition discounting, especially as N-L is the largest enrollment management consulting firm in the country. But then, I read about enrollment management issues a lot, so perhaps what is clear to me won't be to others. Sorry you didn't find it helpful in understanding the thinking that goes on behind financial aid/merit decisions. We've talked about enrollment management techniques colleges use here in the past - perhaps one of those discussions will be more useful to you - here's the link to one: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=101385%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=101385</a></p>