(02-06-2018, 12:49 PM)JeffInCorvallis link Wrote:2. Social engineering - colleges want wealthy families to subsidize the not wealthy by paying full freight and lessening the burden for other families. Not a bad idea overall, but is this really the job of colleges in our society?
This is by far the #1 reason for the high sticker price of tuition coupled to most student getting some, but highly varying, financial aid.
It's also the item universities get publicly beat up the most over. That's partly because many simply don't understand it, partly because many commentators don't think universities do enough of it,* and I am sure there are plenty of other reasons as well.
I have almost never seen commentary that they shouldn't do so at all.
In practical terms, all colleges do this kind of subsidizing but the degree does vary.
Traditionally, this happens directly at private schools as all of us who attended Stanford presumably know.
At public university the subsidizing was traditionally done via tax dollars which were coupled to low set tuition and very little financial aid. As states pull back from funding universities they have begun to move in the direction of private schools: higher nominal tuition and more financial aid to poorer students.
* For wealthy universities like Stanford, Harvard, et al., the current complaint that I have seen most often among those who generally understand the situation is that while sure Stanford provides generous aid for those who get admitted and need it, they have admissions policies that don't allow many needy students in - thus effectively negating the generous aid policies.
[The above is meant to be merely descriptive of the current situation. The intent is to not express any opinion of what university policies should be, in order to follow the board rules on veering into political discussions.]