@agentaquastar We are all guessing here, but my best guess is what I said earlier, and IS what you describe above. Brown (and the rest of the Ivy schools) would have to change their entire conception of “ability to pay” for the policy change to have a broader reach and help, for example, those who borrow to cover the parent or student contributions.
Regarding your statement that “this changes practically nothing,” – for the folks who are facing borrowing $15,000 to $20,000 (or more) for their undergraduate degrees - there are some in this group for whom the debt would be difficult to manage, meaning that it WOULD affect their ability to explore their interests and attend graduate school. Also, for those students whose own loans would be eliminated- surely there are lots of these students whose families borrow to meet the parent and student contributions. So it may not entirely eliminate debt for these students either, but it would go a long way and be very helpful. In this sense, then, it is a step in a positive direction.