<p>Generosity of aid doesn’t mean calculating what a family wants to pay. If your family has any assets
(home equity, car equity, stocks/bonds, rental property, etc.), all CSS/Profile schools take these into consideration and expect you to use them to pay for college-- and this makes it a difficult choice for parents. They expect families to dramatically change their lifestyles to pay for college. If your parents are unwilling to do so, then you will need to find a much less expensive school. Stanford (and other Profile schools) is generally considered generous to those coming from truly low SES backgrounds, not for the upper middle class and beyond. </p>