Are top private colleges mainly for poor people now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Top LACs with big endowments have generous aid too though.

I guess low income is the new privileged. If your family makes 80k a year, full ride. If they make 200k, you’re screwed.

If the $80k kid doesn’t get into that top LAC, they’re taking out loans to go somewhere less selective and less generous with FA. If the $200k kid doesn’t get in to the top LAC, their parents are paying in full for them to go to a top flagship with no loans.

[Anonymous]

The opposite is true,

according to the new research by Stanford economist Raj Chetty and co-authors.They show that 14.5% of students in America’s elite universities (eight Ivy League colleges, University of Chicago, Stanford, MIT, and Duke) are from families in the top 1% of income distribution, compared with only 3.8% from the bottom quintile. That’s a dramatic overrepresentation of the richest Americans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’re free to quit your job if being poor is so awesome. *Crickets*

I suspect a lot of families do somehow game the financial aid system this way. Like maybe one parent stops working. Getting 320k of aid bears a pre tax income of 80k or whatever

Try actually being a poor kid and getting into Harvard. I've worked with these kids. They are engaged and trying really hard. Most of them don't have the grades or SAT scores to get into Harvards. Those elite schools are the only ones offering full need-based aid. Go down a tier (the ones most kids could get into), and they might admit you, but they will saddle you with deb (will not let you pay your expected family contribution)t. If your mom is an immigrant with poor English skills working as a manicurist, and your dad washes dishes, there is no way on this earth that you could go to one of those second tier schools and pay (without taking out massive loans). Effectively, you're stuck with community college and state school as the only path (and one with many obstacles). The number of schools that actually do a full-ride scholarship for poor kids is vanishingly small, and ridiculously hard to obtain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Often 2/3 of students at top ranked schools are getting need based aid that covers the vast majority of costs, on average.

200k is the typical cut off for need based aid (about the income level of a couple of school teachers at the peak of their careers aka “the wealthy”)

It just seems these schools must be populated primarily with lower income kids and then 1/3 rich kids.

I guess middle class kids end up at state school.

You seem to be forgetting that colleges get applicants from all out the U.S. Where I grew up and in many other parts of the U.S., $200K HHI is unheard of. The average HHI in the zip code I grew up in is in the $30,000s last time I checked. For many U.S. cities it’s under $80k.

In US median HHI is 70k. But this includes the very young and the elderly and single person households. So 150k for a family with one or more kids needs to be seen in that context.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Top LACs with big endowments have generous aid too though.

I guess low income is the new privileged. If your family makes 80k a year, full ride. If they make 200k, you’re screwed.

Lol. I make $80k as a teacher and the least amount of money I’d have to pay for my kid to go to college is $22k. Nice discount but not a full ride or even close to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The opposite is true,

according to the new research by Stanford economist Raj Chetty and co-authors.They show that 14.5% of students in America’s elite universities (eight Ivy League colleges, University of Chicago, Stanford, MIT, and Duke) are from families in the top 1% of income distribution, compared with only 3.8% from the bottom quintile. That’s a dramatic overrepresentation of the richest Americans.

But think about it. We are talking about a 320k education. Why would the very poor and the very rich be equally represented? Also there are many moor poor people than very rich people so while very rich people are of course over represented they seem to be very much outnumbered by lower income people on campus.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know if it’s true or not, but if it is then good for the poor people. They deserve a break every once in a while. I’m fine with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top LACs with big endowments have generous aid too though.

I guess low income is the new privileged. If your family makes 80k a year, full ride. If they make 200k, you’re screwed.

Lol. I make $80k as a teacher and the least amount of money I’d have to pay for my kid to go to college is $22k. Nice discount but not a full ride or even close to it.

Harvard would be free for your kid if they could get in. I'm sure there are others as well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’re free to quit your job if being poor is so awesome. *Crickets*

I suspect a lot of families do somehow game the financial aid system this way. Like maybe one parent stops working. Getting 320k of aid bears a pre tax income of 80k or whatever

Try actually being a poor kid and getting into Harvard. I've worked with these kids. They are engaged and trying really hard. Most of them don't have the grades or SAT scores to get into Harvards. Those elite schools are the only ones offering full need-based aid. Go down a tier (the ones most kids could get into), and they might admit you, but they will saddle you with deb (will not let you pay your expected family contribution)t. If your mom is an immigrant with poor English skills working as a manicurist, and your dad washes dishes, there is no way on this earth that you could go to one of those second tier schools and pay (without taking out massive loans). Effectively, you're stuck with community college and state school as the only path (and one with many obstacles). The number of schools that actually do a full-ride scholarship for poor kids is vanishingly small, and ridiculously hard to obtain.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top LACs with big endowments have generous aid too though.

I guess low income is the new privileged. If your family makes 80k a year, full ride. If they make 200k, you’re screwed.

Lol. I make $80k as a teacher and the least amount of money I’d have to pay for my kid to go to college is $22k. Nice discount but not a full ride or even close to it.

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/09/1121953668/pri...uition-financial-aid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top LACs with big endowments have generous aid too though.

I guess low income is the new privileged. If your family makes 80k a year, full ride. If they make 200k, you’re screwed.

Exact opposite. How many kids from families making $80k do you think are getting into top schools?

How is the $200k family more screwed than the $80k family? If the latter has it so good, the fox is simple for the $200k family. Live off $80k (if you tho k they have it so good) and you save $120k for college per year. Fully funded in NO TIME! There! Solved it for you.

Saving this comment so I can copy & paste it every time these stupid threads come up.

[Anonymous]

What you don’t seem to understand is that even with the promise of a free ride, the number of kids from poor families (making less than $150K), who have the supports to achieve at a level high enough to be considered by these schools is really really small assist percentage. I promise you that there are far more $150k to $300k families (as a percentage) who have saved up for college and can support their kid if they get into one of those lottery schools than there are poor kids getting into Harvard. Like with all other things, you are better off being born into a well off family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to joke that 2 years before our eldest went to college we would both quit our jobs and emancipate the children, then they'd get a free ride. We didn't do either of those things, are just sucking it up and paying and taking out loans

Please tell me you’re aware that colleges care about ASSETS. If you make $0 but have $200k in a 529, you’re not getting FA.

[Anonymous]

How many low-income kids are from families that can afford to live in a “good” school zone or attend private k-12, even if some FA is offered? How many poor kids do you think went to Kumon or Mathnasium? Or got to participate in club sports? I could go on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The opposite is true,

according to the new research by Stanford economist Raj Chetty and co-authors.They show that 14.5% of students in America’s elite universities (eight Ivy League colleges, University of Chicago, Stanford, MIT, and Duke) are from families in the top 1% of income distribution, compared with only 3.8% from the bottom quintile. That’s a dramatic overrepresentation of the richest Americans.

But think about it. We are talking about a 320k education. Why would the very poor and the very rich be equally represented? Also there are many moor poor people than very rich people so while very rich people are of course over represented they seem to be very much outnumbered by lower income people on campus.

? You have a 4x better shot at bumping into someone whose family is in the top 1% than in the bottom 25%. How are they “very much outnumbered”?