<p>““As a result, more students entering college come from homes that are increasingly wealthier than the national median income.””</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the national median income may not define “wealth”. The article suggests that there has been a reduction in merit aid, and an increase in need based aid. As has been discussed before, this “trend” impacts the middle class, particularly if one is considered wealthy if they earn above the national average. </p>
<p>There is a lot more detail in the full article:</p>
<p>In 2005, the median annual household income according to the US Census Bureau was determined to be $46,326,[3] similar to that of Canada which was roughly $41,510 (USD) in the year 2000.[4] The median income per household member (including all working and non-working members above the age of 14) in the year 2003 was $23,535.[5] In the year 2005, there were approximately 113,146,000 households in the United States. 17.23% of all households had annual incomes exceeding $100,000,[6] while another 12.7% fell below the federal poverty threshold[7] while the bottom 20% earned less than $19,178.[8] While the aggregate income distribution tends to tilt towards the top with the top 6.37% earning roughly one third of all income, those with upper-middle incomes also controlled a large, though declining, share of the total earned income.[9][2] Households in the top quintile, 77% of which had two income earners, had incomes exceeding $91,705. Households in the mid quintile, with a mean of one income earner per household had incomes between $36,000 and 57,657.[8]</p>
<p>I still find it disturbing that there are people who think that someone whose family earns $92,000 / year (top quintile?) can afford to pay $46,000/ year with no financial aid.</p>
<p>Yet, some of these same people think that someone whose family earns only $40,000/year are entitled to a completely free ride.</p>
<p>If the first family is a two income family, why should they be penalized? It doesn’t make sense. This family should not be denied the chance for merit aid
if they have a deserving student just because both parents work. Without merit aid, many two income families will be denied the opportunity for their children to attend the high priced schools, yet a single income family may not.</p>
<p>Why do you think that? At all of the need-blind schools, need-based aid goes all the way up to $200k. Harvard advertises that 20% of their students receiving need-based aid come from families earning more the $130k. Half of all students receiving need-based aid at Princeton earn more than $100k.</p>
<p>Sorry about the experience. Why do you think the school determined you had no need? (It was a 100%-of-need school, right?)</p>
<p>“this “trend” impacts the middle class, particularly if one is considered wealthy if they earn above the national average.”</p>
<p>Middle income for families with kids is around $55k; the middle quintile is around $45-$65k; the quntile below that goes down to around $32k; the one above it to around $92k. There is no way someone with $100k+ in income is middle-income. (As to how they feel about it, that is another issue all together.)</p>
<p>At the prestige colleges, students are wealthier than they were 25 years ago, and, adjusting for increases in income/assets for those who are full-freighters, they are a greater bargain than they have been in 2 1/2 deacdes. One of the reasons applications are up.</p>
<p>There was a study a saw a year ago from the Department of Labor, which indicated that while the difference in income between $75k and $150k is only 2X, the average difference in assets owned by each was around 4X, and the difference grew much more rapidly above that.</p>
<p>(I’d rather have the $100k and be hunting for college money than have $40k and face difficulties in both admissions and in doing the hunting. Which is not to minimize how difficult it can be for families with kids at the prestige privates. But then there are great state universities…)</p>
<p>That’s my point mini. Why should a family who works hard have to send kids to the State U. because they can’t afford what you call the prestige privates, yet the family who may not work CAN afford the private because of the need based aid ???</p>
<p>Somehow, this doesn’t seem right. It could almost be seen as an incentive for some hard working (tax paying) individuals to stop working when their kids approach the college age just so the could qualify for financial aid, and not be saddled with tremendous debt.</p>
<p>That really doesn’t make sense now does it??</p>
<p>I am pretty sure that these “rich” folks making $100k do not have wads of cash sitting in the bank waiting to be spent on college. :eek:</p>
<p>“That’s my point mini. Why should a family who works hard have to send kids to the State U. because they can’t afford what you call the prestige privates, yet the family who may not work CAN afford the private because of the need based aid ???”</p>
<p>Numerically, there just aren’t that many full-rides in need-based aid. There just aren’t. There is a smaller percentage of Pell Grant recipients ($40k or less) at prestige privates than there were in 1993-1994. At most of these schools 11% or fewer. There are many, many, many more $100k students admitted to these schools and receiving need-based and merit aid. </p>
<p>It isn’t a zero sum game, though. At most of these schools, more than half the students, usually with a minimum income of around $160k-$170k, receive no aid. That’s the minimum - the median is well into the 200k ranges and upward. The 100k family isn’t competing with the 40k family for aid (when they do, they win - a school can get 5-6 highly qualified 100k students to attend, for small amounts of aid, for every one 40k one with a full-ride), but with students who require no aid at all.</p>
<p>Duke, for example, meets 100% of demonstrated need. But only 39% of students have any (according to them). 61% don’t. Extrapolating from data at other schools, it is likely that the median income of families at Duke is well into the $200k range. But of the 39% who receive need-based aid, only 7% are low-income Pell Grantees. 32% are higher income, or more than four times as many. If the low-income students were wholly eliminated from the Duke scene (which would result in lower educational quality for everyone), it still wouldn’t make much difference financially to you.</p>
(income around $50k)</p>