<p>Perhaps your particular situation is not pertinent, but your assertion that colleges with large endowments should “probably be giving free educations to anyone that works hard enough to earn admission, regardless of financial status” is still absurd. First off, there are only 2 schools with endowments over 20 billion, one of which has drastically changed its financial support for the middle class while the other will announce its new financial plan shortly. And colleges in the top tier do offer reasonable financial aid for those with evident need.
Do you know how ridiculous and impractical it would be for any college–barring Harvard–to dole out free rides to all students in the income bracket to which you allude. Admittedly some middle class families are at an extreme disadvantage in regards to college, but the alternative is impractical. How many low income students are there compared to middle income students? The achievement rates in both are staggeringly distinct and to put them on the same plane is ridiculous. Now I’m generalizing a lot as each scenario is different. But regardless, to say that the unfortunate middle class has a burden is to not understand the true burden of the lower class.</p>