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<p>For example, there are those who would argue in favor of Wesleyan simply making up the difference by subsidizing it from the endowment. That is what many highly endowed colleges, including Wesleyan, do. However, it should be pointed out that there are limits as to what endowments – even some that are many times Wesleyan’s size – can do:
[Williams</a> College Rolls Back ‘No Loan’ Policy - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/williams-2/]Williams”>Williams College Rolls Back 'No Loan' Policy - The New York Times)</p>
<p>Still others, have argued that by becoming “need-aware” (as opposed to following the old policy of being “need-blind”)
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/wesleyan-university/1191404-what-has-happened-wesleyan-7.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/wesleyan-university/1191404-what-has-happened-wesleyan-7.html</a></p>
<p>Well, that’s a bit of a conceit because as we all know, a college can play all sorts of games in terms of how they define “full-pay”. For example, a college <em>could</em> raise its tuition sticker price to $1,000,000, and award need-based scholarships of $950,000 to virtually everyone who qualified. In all likelihood, you would end up with 95% of the college on financial aid. It would not, however, significantly change its underlying socio-economic make-up. </p>
<p>Something very like this has been going on at elite colleges for years. In fact, tuition is so high at one particular college that a family income of $263,989 now qualifies it for aid (scroll to about page four): <a href=“http://admission.williams.edu/files/2010/01/2015-Profile3.pdf[/url]”>http://admission.williams.edu/files/2010/01/2015-Profile3.pdf</a> </p>
<p>Who would have thought this was possible ten - even five years ago? And, yet this is considered standard operating procedure at an institution with an estimated three times Wesleyan’s endowment.</p>