They do this to FLATTER their acceptees. Ooohh…I must be smart because they gave me a $12k scholarship!!! I can’t turn down this school; they’re giving me $12k per year!!!
People don’t often realize that the tuitions were raised just so that they can “discount”.
I remember a poster a few years ago that was looking for decent merit for her VERY modest stats son (ACT 20). She found a number of small lesser-known privates who were looking for warm bodies so they offered merit to (obviously) everyone.
One of their CSU’s would have been much better and cheaper, but those schools didn’t “show the love”.