<p>songman–since you bring up interesting ideas, I am going to give you my thoughts back…you are right…none of us will ever really know exactly what goes on for real.</p>
<p>My understanding is that the amount of money set aside for scholarships by NYU is part of their fiscal budget, determined annually, and is not a fluid number that changes based on interest earned or any one particular investment during the year. </p>
<p>NYU has not changed its financial aid drastically in the last few years. The only shift has been away from non-need based merit aid. But this money has been allocated towards giving more money towards those with need.</p>