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This is a good point, and in fact some of the elite schools actually have very generous programs with grants and not loans for lower-income students (of course you have to get accepted first!) But a lot of times on this forum when someone talks about financial help what they have in mind is the gap between what their parents will contribute and the cost, expecting the money to materialize from somewhere else even if the FAFSA says the parents should be able to pay more.</p>