The average FOO income of Brown is $204K. The average FOO income at our state flagship is about $110K. The average FOO income from one of our state’s directional universities is $66K. It would be great if schools were required to publish acceptance rates for full pay vs. those applying for FA vs. those requiring different levels of FA.
Some very high endowment schools are doing a slightly better job than others with that average family income (MIT and UChicago come to mind). If you google on this topic, there are plenty of articles about how schools work through admissions to skew to the level of FA they can afford to give out. I tried to link some and get an error doing so. Paid consultants that are watching every admissions cycle regularly state need blind is a marketing gimmick to get more apps.
Admissions officers may not even think they’re taking it into consideration. But if you’re prioritizing golfers, those with years of private music training, kids from high end private schools, politician/CEO’s kids, etc. you are naturally skewing to a wealthier demographic. They can see zip code, parental education, etc. And I’m not saying schools aren’t and can’t be generous with some students. Which is great. But I think it’s good to go into the process eyes wide open.