<p>@futureinfinance: First, this thread is addressing the civility of the staff in FA. I responded about my own experience. I did not want to engage in a debate about the merits of need based aid. It is a different situation for those institutions that provide merit based aid, perhaps, but do you really believe that Stanford be “need aware” and only take rich students?</p>
<p>Second, those who are “full pay” are NOT paying the full cost of attendance. Period. No student is subsidizing another student’s education. Period. The Stanford multi-billion dollar endowment is subsidizing those who qualify for aid. Denying poor students admission would not reduce your costs.</p>
<p>Third, you know nothing of our financial situation. The FA office manages outside scholarships as well as direct aid, loans, work study, and so on. My son brought with him numerous outside scholarships so that Stanford’s endowment did not need to be tapped. (Think Coke Scholars, National Merit, Byrd, and many others).</p>
<p>Fourth, if you have a future in finance, you need to get a better understanding of what defines the middle class. If your family (I assume your parents, and not you), is wealthy enough that you did not receive one penny of additional support, then you are not in the middle class. Stanford provides aid to many students well above 100K in earnings, and does not count retirement accounts, homes, etc. when it figures out who can receive some aid. If you are so wealthy that you got nothing, and still feel fleeced, then I hope you go somewhere else. I so much appreciate the economic diversity of students, and am happy that my son is now employed and able to “give back” to future students at Stanford.</p>