I’m wondering what the real motivation is for some schools to do this.

Hopkins is doing it, right?

While I know one kid currently at Hopkins, I know a dozen who passed on the school because of its location (read: fear).

So is that why some schools are doing this? To attract smart kids who could go to pretty much any other school on a full ride?

I just wish someone could figure out how to make college more affordable. It’s all become ridiculously expensive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If retiring early means my kids go to college for free, I’m in. So much of my after tax income will be going directly to tuition for the 3 years I will have both in school that I don’t think there’s a financial benefit to working.

I will run the numbers, but this is a serious consideration.

You need to really investigate the “typical assets” situation. I did retire early for reasons unrelated to college costs, bringing our HHI (at least at the moment) to just over $200k, and the NPCs are coming out at “lol! First deplete all your assets.”

That is an odd choice for a parent.

College should be free for all with a 4 year mandatory public service job. Parents shouldn't have to pay.

Like gaming USN&WR, this is all about getting colleges trying to game the system. They are just looking for headlines.

As a person in the middle of the barbell, I hate the whole thing. I have responsibly tried to save for college. I make more than the vast majority of Americans - I don't want anyone's pity. But how about slowing the pace of tuition growth for everyone rather than only benefitting lower income people.

The joke is that for many of these schools, they are freezing out a lot of their loyal alums who are doing very, very well but not great so can't afford to send their kids to their alma maters. All the headlines are about alums of top schools making millions but most of them are actually at the middle of the barbell.

The other big problem is that class sizes are basically staying the same but the number of kids applying keeps growing. Supply and demand. Which is why schools that used to be meh are now more in demand.

Does this mean that if you have a house that is now worth $750,000 but you make under $200,000 a year that you will not qualify for free tuition?

Anonymous wrote:But isn’t it just tuition? They still pay for room and board which is about half of the price tag.

Room and board is not half the price tag at a $90k school.

It shouldn’t be all or nothing. Someone making $190k can afford plenty tuition. Someone making $120k can afford some tuition. It pisses me off that I have to pay more so that someone else can pay nothing. We’ll likely be skipping private schools for OOS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If retiring early means my kids go to college for free, I’m in. So much of my after tax income will be going directly to tuition for the 3 years I will have both in school that I don’t think there’s a financial benefit to working.

I will run the numbers, but this is a serious consideration.

You need to really investigate the “typical assets” situation. I did retire early for reasons unrelated to college costs, bringing our HHI (at least at the moment) to just over $200k, and the NPCs are coming out at “lol! First deplete all your assets.”

This. You can’t be sitting in a $1M house with millions invested. It doesn’t work like that.

But isn’t it just tuition? They still pay for room and board which is about half of the price tag.

Anonymous wrote:If retiring early means my kids go to college for free, I’m in. So much of my after tax income will be going directly to tuition for the 3 years I will have both in school that I don’t think there’s a financial benefit to working.

I will run the numbers, but this is a serious consideration.

You need to really investigate the “typical assets” situation. I did retire early for reasons unrelated to college costs, bringing our HHI (at least at the moment) to just over $200k, and the NPCs are coming out at “lol! First deplete all your assets.”

If retiring early means my kids go to college for free, I’m in. So much of my after tax income will be going directly to tuition for the 3 years I will have both in school that I don’t think there’s a financial benefit to working.

I will run the numbers, but this is a serious consideration.

I wonder if this is a private HS issue. Very very few kids from our diverse public HS are choosing private college. Even the “wealthy” kids. We might have 5 or fewer per year. Everyone else is choosing in-state (VA) or OOS public, many with lots of merit.

If a school offers free tuition to families under $200k, I don't think that means a family earning $201k pays full tuition.

I don't understand the objection to making aid decisions based on financial need. That means that families with the least means pay less than families with more means. Can you spell out your objection?

We're parents of a junior with a HHI of just under 500 so not super invested in this, but every top school we've been to with programs like this does seem to have tiers. 200K and under is free, but there are discounts into the 300s.

Believe me, I've flirted with "what if I quit my sub-100K job" and even if we were able to disregard the bonus and stock part of my spouse's compensation to squeak in a large discount, it's a wash.

Seems totally fair to me.

More and more, campuses are 50% students paying nothing and 50% full pay.

They're creating the same, problematic barbell environment boarding schools had in the 80s and 90s.

Tuition keeps rising. More and more families who receive 25k FA packages off 90k COA schools have to decline.

I'd like to see *one* T25 school offer an idea that is even a little different than "any family* making under $200k goes tuition free".

*with typical assets. the part that no newspaper article mentions when just publishing the school's press release. is 200k in assets really "typical" for a family making 200k? is any of this normed to where you live?