@MurphyBrown, I’m not sure what the answer is to your question or what the price difference is, but it would make sense that it will come out of your pocket. And that won’t change the separation on campus between the haves and the have nots.
My kids are (were) full pay (older son graduated from brown last year) and some of their best friends are/were on financial aid. My oldest lived in an on-campus theme house for 3 years that included students who went to the finest boarding schools, like Andover, and students who were first-generation and couldn’t go home for any break. And they all became friends and learned from each other. Younger son is getting the same experience at tufts. But some ppl may not care if they experience this in college and others really want to meet all sorts of people. There is no right or wrong here. It’s different strokes for different folks. My neighbor’s son liked holy cross because it felt like a country club to him, both the campus itself and the homogeneity. That wouldn’t have been my kids’ ideal school.