<p>Well everyone has their own perspective on merit money. If you’re between “fafsa need” and wealthy, a kid has virtually no shot at attending a $50k a year private school, unless they go into mounds of debt. So while we might mock and ridicule the mom that didn’t want to pay for school. It’s a little less appealing to mock a middle class student and parents for simply wanting to be able to do the private college thing. No offense to the wealthy, or those that do get need based money.</p>