"Why Public Universities Are Now a Bad Bargain for the Middle Class"

[ucbalumnus]

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@bclintonk

At Columbia, for example, 48.5% of the students are full-pays. Colleges differ a bit as to the household income level at which they cut off need-based FA, but at the wealthiest schools it’s generally in the $180K to $200K range. So roughly half the students at Columbia come from the top 5% to 6% highest-income households.

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<p>That is probably closer to the top 3% or 4%, not 5% or 6%, of household incomes.</p>

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@bclintonk

Pell Grant recipients generally come from families earning $40,000 or less–that is, roughly the bottom 25% of household income.

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<p>The 25th percentile of household income in the US is about $25,000 per year, not $40,000 per year. $35,000 per year is about the 36th percentile, and $50,000 per year is about the 50th percentile (median).</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0690.pdf[/url]”>http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0690.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>(Yes, a reasonable approximation for the percentile rank of household income below $50,000 per year in the US is to just divide the annual income in dollars by 1,000 to get the approximate percentile rank. However, that does not work for above median household incomes.)</p>