Upper Middle Class Frustration

[ucbalumnus]

@garland

At the generous need-based aid only colleges the doughnut hole is real. It is exactly how their aid works. The center coincides with the maximum ratio of out-of-pocket cost/income.

Using Harvard as an example for a family of 3, US citizens living in Massachusetts, 1 in college, $0 assets, all income from wages/salary:

https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/net-price-calculator

Income ($)  Net Price ($)   Net price / Income (%)
     0       4600       infinity
 10000       4600       46.0
 15000       4600       30.1
 20000       4600       23.0
 25000       4600       18.4
 50000       4600        9.2
 65000       4600        7.1        (highest maximum aid income)
100000       9600        9.6
150000      19600       13.1
200000      45000       22.5
250000      66350       26.6
255000      69600       27.3        (lowest no aid income)
300000      69600       23.2
350000      69600       19.9
400000      69600       17.4

The maximum ratio of net price / income is found at income = $0. The minimum ratio is found around the middle income level when below to super-high income level (the ratio gets down to 7.1% at a local minimum at $65,000; it eventually falls to that level at $983,481).