"How did this happen?" — because the market will bear it. High sticker price + financial aid for 65% of students just makes it easier for a college to price discriminate, which is overall a good thing. And as the article points out, most students don't pay anywhere near as much as a Vanderbilt full tuition, so in a sense it really doesn't matter. The article does a good job of explaining this.
I got boned by financial aid at MIT for a variety of complex reasons and had to pay full sticker price. I ended up taking two gap years and working and saving all my money to spend on tuition. During the school years I did contract work and in the summers I did highly paid tech internships. I ended up graduating in 7 semesters, of which I personally paid tuition+room for 3 of them, my parents paid for 3, and my grandparents paid for 1. I covered all my living expenses. As my Dad often reminds me, I am extremely lucky to have grown up knowing I could go ask them for help if I ever ran out of money or got into trouble.
I'm torn about whether or not it was worth it — I'm very happy with my life now, but getting told "oh sorry computer says no, now pay twice as much" still rankles.
You can't say the market is bearing it when the college market is being sustained by government-backed funding via student loans. If the market were really bearing it, government's involvement would be minimal to non-existent.
I don't understand this. When Harvard or CalTech says that anyone admitted will not be turned away due to financial hardship, it's because the loans are issued with a qualification based on their admission. 100k or any other price, the current financing structure remains the same.
At Caltech, students from families making $90K or below, will receive a no loan financial aid package (package will consist of grants and work-study).[0]
I got boned by financial aid at MIT for a variety of complex reasons and had to pay full sticker price. I ended up taking two gap years and working and saving all my money to spend on tuition. During the school years I did contract work and in the summers I did highly paid tech internships. I ended up graduating in 7 semesters, of which I personally paid tuition+room for 3 of them, my parents paid for 3, and my grandparents paid for 1. I covered all my living expenses. As my Dad often reminds me, I am extremely lucky to have grown up knowing I could go ask them for help if I ever ran out of money or got into trouble.
I'm torn about whether or not it was worth it — I'm very happy with my life now, but getting told "oh sorry computer says no, now pay twice as much" still rankles.
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