Chicago loses money on every undergrad student it enrolls, even at full pay. Just the instructional cost per student at Chicago is $66,200. Compare this to Northwestern where the instructional cost per student is only $32,693. Either the University is terribly inefficient in providing education or is focused on providing an exceptional experience regardless of the cost. Among HYPS only Yale spends more and only five other private universities spend more.
The school just cannot afford merit awards anymore. I would contend that it cannot really afford a “need blind” policy either, but that would be such a public relations disaster, that they will not abandon it. Chicago is indeed the ** little guy** among its peers. The only way it can keep paying generous merit or need based awards is to run its endowment down. Is it really fair to ask a University to do that?