<p>I don’t think the schools are saying that is low-income. That would be ludicrous. The majority of American families are not earning that much. I think they are just framing it in the context of the cost of bs; that is the cut-off for being eligible for large amounts of fa.</p>
<p>Exactly right keylyme…I think saying low income is a stretch for less than 120K. Our son was approached by a HADES school and when they heard we would be looking for FA, they told us less than 75K full ride and possibly more for extra expenses if the family income is even lower. 75-120K would likely warrant large amount of FA, but not full ride though. They said they do calculations for the cost of living in different cities and for the income tax levels etc and look closely at the SSS.</p>
<p>For those applying to BS - given the cost of tuition - I would define low income by the cutoff some schools use to qualify for full FA - typically in the neighborhood of $60-75K and below. That is not a standard definition of low income but most income definitions don’t factor in a big expense like BS tuition.</p>
<p>Don’t forget these schools have considerable commitments to programs like Prep for Prep and ABC that bring them a significant number who need full aid every year.</p>
<p>The catch is that you don’t pay state taxes. Do you use the calculated form for sales tax for the 1040 or do you use real taxes?</p>
<p>Also does not Harvard declare the lower income of 100K for full tuition?</p>