it's not crazy – every single family who could pay would say their 24-year-old cannot possibly attend without scholarships and loans if that was the case.
This. I worked at a top private law school. All the rich kids want to claim their parents aren’t helping. Doesn’t matter, their income is taken into account.
Even if it’s true that families who can afford to pay would claim that - why shouldn’t they do that? If you support your kid through college and they are a self-sufficient adult, 25 years old with no financial connection to their parents, why do we assume the parents should pay for medical school (or law school, etc.)? At what point is it ok for parents to bear no financial obligation for their kids, so that financial aid is an option? I think if a kid has been financially independent for years, there should be no attribution of parental ability to pay.