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<p>This is what I came here to say. I don’t think that every middle-income student at a top 25 school was choosing between that school and a big merit scholarship somewhere else. A few of them might have been offered big merit aid elsewhere and decided to attend HYP-type schools because the need-based aid made it almost as affordable as the merit aid. But I think a lot of them chose to attend HYP because it was their most affordable option OR it was the best option out of several different expensive options.</p>
<p>Other answers:
-Different families have different priorities - some families are more willing to sacrifice everything to put aside the $30K a year it’ll cost to send Junior to Harvard
-Some people are willing to pay the premium to go to top schools; not everyone comes to CC
-Some people are not financially savvy and spend more money than they can afford. This goes for houses and cars and college educations, and pretty much everything.</p>