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How do you define “middle-class”? My family is middle class–what some would call “middle middle class,” not “upper middle class”–and above the median U.S. income. We have only been middle-class for 10 years, and started from essentially 0 before that point (immigrants). I receive substantial FA from Swarthmore, which calculated a family contribution less than my ~15k FAFSA EFC.</p>
<p>FA “generosity” will vary for every family, especially those with finances more complicated than paycheck income and typical assets. In that respect, Swarthmore is probably not any more or less generous than Williams or Amherst; but for a PARTICULAR family, the difference may or may not be significant.</p>