Anonymous
Post 11/14/2025 11:00     Subject: "free tuition for people making under $x" is problematic
Anonymous wrote:We make around 140k and when I hear about these policies I feel encouraged simply because we have a very academic, ambitious kid and it gives me hope that she will have more options for college than whatever in state school we can afford. We save diligently for college because she's very clearly college bound, but it's hard and we have to budget very carefully. We also will be fortunate to have 150k total by the time she is college age, even though we've been saving since she was born. So we will hopefully be able to swing in-state tuition. But she's a really smart kid with big dreams, and she works very hard. If she is able to get into an elite college, it is a relief to me to know that they will work with us to find a way for her to afford to go, since we will never be able to afford a school that charges 80-100k a year.

It is wild to me how resentful some of you are about this. Are your kids even getting into these schools? I feel like if you are wealthy enough to be able to pay these sticker prices, AND you have a kid with the stats to get in, you are in a good situation no matter what and there is little to complain about here. I don't get it.


Nobody’s launching a crusade. People are grumbling because colleges said something was free and then said “whoops but not for you because you were foolish enough to save.” Looks like you’ll be in exactly the same situation in a few years: feeling fortunate that your kid can go to college at all, but laughing ruefully at elite colleges that say they want to make college “affordable for everyone” or “enroll the best and the brightest,” but then, because you saved, make it clear that your kid won’t be able to attend. And then when people tell your kid that she’s actually not as good as she wants to believe because she didn’t go to the elite school you couldn’t afford … you’re not going to start a revolution. But you might be right here grumbling on DCUM.
Anonymous
Post 11/14/2025 11:00     Subject: "free tuition for people making under $x" is problematic
Anonymous wrote:I mean. All colleges should be completely free to all students.

You are trolling.

We are not saying we want college to be free to all students (I actually wouldn't want that). What we are saying is college tuition costs are out of control. They aren't sustainable even for UMC rich families. Paying $90k/year is a lot of money even for families making $300 - 400k. No one wants to pay $90k while other people who are still doing well in life (the $200k people).

Try something else like the Deerfield model.
Anonymous
Post 11/14/2025 10:54     Subject: "free tuition for people making under $x" is problematic
We make around 140k and when I hear about these policies I feel encouraged simply because we have a very academic, ambitious kid and it gives me hope that she will have more options for college than whatever in state school we can afford. We save diligently for college because she's very clearly college bound, but it's hard and we have to budget very carefully. We also will be fortunate to have 150k total by the time she is college age, even though we've been saving since she was born. So we will hopefully be able to swing in-state tuition. But she's a really smart kid with big dreams, and she works very hard. If she is able to get into an elite college, it is a relief to me to know that they will work with us to find a way for her to afford to go, since we will never be able to afford a school that charges 80-100k a year.

It is wild to me how resentful some of you are about this. Are your kids even getting into these schools? I feel like if you are wealthy enough to be able to pay these sticker prices, AND you have a kid with the stats to get in, you are in a good situation no matter what and there is little to complain about here. I don't get it.
Anonymous
Post 11/14/2025 10:45     Subject: Re:"free tuition for people making under $x" is problematic
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I want my kid to go to school with kids whose parents are educators and artists and social workers and work for nonprofits and take pay cuts do to mission-driven work.

Can anyone please direct me thanks


Ivies. So many families with wealth to afford the luxury of working at non-profits, the arts, social work.

My richest extended family (the Greenwich branch —all my cousins do social or non-profit work. One is an artist in NYC.


Yes. Many with $ give back. This board is so $ hungry they worship “finance”. That isn’t going to pan out so well with AI.
Anonymous
Post 11/14/2025 10:45     Subject: "free tuition for people making under $x" is problematic
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:On Reddit there are tons of kids whose parents own dry cleaners, restaurants, etc who apply to college as Questbridge kids. These families know how to hide money.



My kid’s HS produces multiple Questbridge students every year.

Without exception, the ones that I know come from families that struggle to put food on the table every day.

Whole different planet than the DCUM “middle class”.

QB does a lot of good for a lot of deserving people. But they also clearly err on the side of turning a blind eye. They aren’t auditing for fraud, and so sometimes get taken advantage of. (*cough* Mackenzie Fierceton *cough*).


Sure. Nothing’s perfect, and I’m all in favor of expanded scholarship opportunities for donut hole families.

But the folks complaining about giving up housecleaners to afford college? (See the top 30-70 thread)? The kids I know—their parents ARE the house cleaners.

So maybe don’t begrudge those kids their opportunities.

Anonymous
Post 11/14/2025 10:44     Subject: Re:"free tuition for people making under $x" is problematic
Anonymous wrote:I want my kid to go to school with kids whose parents are educators and artists and social workers and work for nonprofits and take pay cuts do to mission-driven work.

Can anyone please direct me thanks


Ivies. So many families with wealth to afford the luxury of working at non-profits, the arts, social work.

My richest extended family (the Greenwich branch —all my cousins do social or non-profit work. One is an artist in NYC.
Anonymous
Post 11/14/2025 10:44     Subject: "free tuition for people making under $x" is problematic
I mean. All colleges should be completely free to all students.
Anonymous
Post 11/14/2025 10:39     Subject: "free tuition for people making under $x" is problematic
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Maybe colleges should take a page from Deerfield Academy boarding school.

Their formula is that nobody pays more than 10% of income (yes, they will take into account significant assets but not home equity).

So, families up to as much as $800k may get something. Now, typically those families have significant assets and don’t receive anything, but they said quite a few $500k families are getting aid.

As they raise tuition, the formula automatically adjusts.


OP Sure. Try this. I think there must be 100 ways of handling this. I'd like to see some school try something else. I also like the idea of taking a small percentage of all assets, not just non-sheltered assets. The thing is, I could tap my paid off home. And my retirement isnt' completely inaccessible to me (you can use your roth for kids education, at some income levels. or you can take out loans knowing I'm just a couple years away from being able to access it tax free)


I'm with you, OP. I like the idea of the Deerfield pricing model. Why can't a top school try a method like this instead of "free for the under 200k crowd".

We make > $200k (yay for us except when it comes to college tuition). What doubly sucks is that probably a few years after my kid graduates from college, the "fee for kids under $x" may finally catch up to our tuition. So while my kid has to pay full price right now, potentially in a few years after she graduates, it could possibly be free.


Yes, the line at which college is “free” does seem to be moving up a lot faster than wages.
Anonymous
Post 11/14/2025 10:38     Subject: "free tuition for people making under $x" is problematic
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Maybe colleges should take a page from Deerfield Academy boarding school.

Their formula is that nobody pays more than 10% of income (yes, they will take into account significant assets but not home equity).

So, families up to as much as $800k may get something. Now, typically those families have significant assets and don’t receive anything, but they said quite a few $500k families are getting aid.

As they raise tuition, the formula automatically adjusts.


OP Sure. Try this. I think there must be 100 ways of handling this. I'd like to see some school try something else. I also like the idea of taking a small percentage of all assets, not just non-sheltered assets. The thing is, I could tap my paid off home. And my retirement isnt' completely inaccessible to me (you can use your roth for kids education, at some income levels. or you can take out loans knowing I'm just a couple years away from being able to access it tax free)


I'm with you, OP. I like the idea of the Deerfield pricing model. Why can't a top school try a method like this instead of "free for the under 200k crowd".

We make > $200k (yay for us except when it comes to college tuition). What doubly sucks is that probably a few years after my kid graduates from college, the "fee for kids under $x" may finally catch up to our tuition. So while my kid has to pay full price right now, potentially in a few years after she graduates, it could possibly be free.
Anonymous
Post 11/14/2025 10:37     Subject: "free tuition for people making under $x" is problematic
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:On Reddit there are tons of kids whose parents own dry cleaners, restaurants, etc who apply to college as Questbridge kids. These families know how to hide money.



My kid’s HS produces multiple Questbridge students every year.

Without exception, the ones that I know come from families that struggle to put food on the table every day.

Whole different planet than the DCUM “middle class”.

QB does a lot of good for a lot of deserving people. But they also clearly err on the side of turning a blind eye. They aren’t auditing for fraud, and so sometimes get taken advantage of. (*cough* Mackenzie Fierceton *cough*).
Anonymous
Post 11/14/2025 10:30     Subject: "free tuition for people making under $x" is problematic
Anonymous wrote:On Reddit there are tons of kids whose parents own dry cleaners, restaurants, etc who apply to college as Questbridge kids. These families know how to hide money.



My kid’s HS produces multiple Questbridge students every year.

Without exception, the ones that I know come from families that struggle to put food on the table every day.

Whole different planet than the DCUM “middle class”.
Anonymous
Post 11/14/2025 10:28     Subject: Re:"free tuition for people making under $x" is problematic
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I want my kid to go to school with kids whose parents are educators and artists and social workers and work for nonprofits and take pay cuts do to mission-driven work.

Can anyone please direct me thanks


Your state school.


And what are the consequences of having a system where those students are absent from all of then “top” schools?

You’ve got this…!
Anonymous
Post 11/14/2025 10:28     Subject: "free tuition for people making under $x" is problematic
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote: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.


Frankly I call BS. There are certainly a lot of kids that fit into this but the very few kids part is not right. At our diverse public the top 10 kids all went private.


It can depend on the school. People in the Western US are less enamored of private colleges in general. Exceptional students who are also top athletes will often focus on schools with strong athletic programs. People in the South often value proximity to family which can impact which schools are considered. And so on.
Anonymous
Post 11/14/2025 10:26     Subject: "free tuition for people making under $x" is problematic
Anonymous wrote:Do retirement plans count as "assets"? If so, very few families would qualify for under 200k ...


Not on FAFSA. You have to include them on the CSS profile, though, which all of these generous schools require. What they do with that information is up to the school. Most say they exclude it from consideration. But they do see it.
Anonymous
Post 11/14/2025 10:21     Subject: "free tuition for people making under $x" is problematic
On Reddit there are tons of kids whose parents own dry cleaners, restaurants, etc who apply to college as Questbridge kids. These families know how to hide money.