<p>You’re right: all this confusion stems from the definition of the word “rich.” According to Princeton’s website, 98% of financial aid applicants whose families make between $160,000 and $180,000 are deemed to have “financial need” ([Princeton</a> University | Who Qualifies for Aid?](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/financialaid/how_it_works/who_qualifies/]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/financialaid/how_it_works/who_qualifies/)). That means those 45% of students who don’t receive financial aid must be within the top 5% of the income distribution or have massive assets to compensate. Either way, that’s “rich” in most people’s books.</p>
<p>Having reasoned that about 50% of Princeton students are “rich” by common standards, I went on to estimate that 40% to 60% of those rich students are white. That’s how I got my 20%-to-30%-of-Princeton-students-are-rich-white-kids figure. Might be a little off, but 20% doesn’t seem like a stretch to me.</p>
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<p>According to Princeton’s statistics on who qualifies for financial aid, students whose families make between $0 and $75,000 per year with typical assets receive full tuition, room and board. So you’re suggesting that the majority of students receive a full ride and that almost every student receiving financial aid comes from a family making less than $75,000 per year. Can that really be the case?</p>