@widgetmidget not sure why info about Brown is relevant to this thread.
^ Exactly.
But, we’re all glad you went to Brown, too.
Oh, it was Brown? Somehow I missed that detail. 
@InigoMontoya Cute. My point was that merit aid isn’t financial aid by any stretch of the imagination. Financial aid is need based. The reality inequity is that universities are using up money that should go to the neediest students for the equivalent of middle class welfare.
I disagree. Any kind of free money that helps a student pay for school is “financial aid.” This includes merit money. Heck, I would even say that some of the self-help type programs, like federal student loans and federal work-study, is a kind of financial aid. At the risk of going out on a limb here, I think you’ll find that the consensus here on CC is that there are two general types of financial aid - merit aid and need-based aid.
I doubt that most schools are giving merit aid to top students out of the goodness of their hearts. Many are doing it to improve their statistics, bring higher achieving students onto campus, increase diversity, and fill their seats with students who would/could not pay full price but will attend with a discount. Schools have good reasons to award merit aid. Why do you think that the neediest students are more deserving of an education than their middle class counterparts? Few middle class, or even lower upper class, families can afford $60,000 a year for college, and that’s what many colleges charge. I think there’s a place, and a need, for both types of aid.
Financial aids include both merit aids and need based aids. Financial aid is not just need based aid. However, the main discussion of this thread is about merit aid if you read the article in the link.