[Farm93]

Financial aid is itemized by category including Room and Board, Tuition, etc.  I wouldn’t expect to get the room and board portion if I am living elsewhere.

Not only that but it is actually not Stanford's money to issue in many cases.   I believe the Federal guaranteed loans need to be aligned to actual costs.  Given the way financial aid works, how it is guaranteed, and who would actually pay, at least in some cases, for Stanford's generosity I do think Stanford should adjust the aid package to reflect living at home.   Stanford is not providing room or board, so issuing out aid to students as if that was still happening could cascade into a full of accounting problems and PR issues.  As some would note the Federal government was subsidizing Stanford students chillin' at home rather than giving more money to now unemployed workers that also lost their health care insurance.

Ignoring Stanford's current tuition, room and board pricing, if I was a parent of a Freshman, Sophomore or Junior I would want to understand why the Spring Quarter 2020 was essential.

However, as I think about it I would wonder what my child would do if they were not attending classes.   It is highly unlikely any company will be looking for college interns or college temporary workers for the next several months.  Given the lack of alternatives, and the difficulty associated with transferring classes into Stanford credits, I probably would pay unless I could quickly craft an amazing off the grid type family experience for 3-5 months.  The value is not great, but there are going to be very few credible alternatives, and even fewer that would not include a meaningful risk of COVID-19 exposure (Grocery store clerk, Amazon Prime delivery, census worker, etc.)

[Farm93]

Financial aid is itemized by category including Room and Board, Tuition, etc.  I wouldn’t expect to get the room and board portion if I am living elsewhere.

Not only that but it is actually not Stanford's money to issue in many cases.   I believe the Federal guaranteed loans need to be aligned to actual costs.  Given the way financial aid works, how it is guaranteed, and who would actually pay, at least in some cases, for Stanford's generosity I do think Stanford should adjust the aid package to reflect living at home.   Stanford is not providing room or board, so issuing out aid to students as if that was still happening could cascade into a full of accounting problems and PR issues.  As some would note the Federal government was subsidizing Stanford students chillin' at home rather than giving more money to now unemployed workers that also lost their health care insurance.

Ignoring Stanford's current tuition, room and board pricing, if I was a parent of a Freshman, Sophomore or Junior I would want to understand why the Spring Quarter 2020 was essential.

However, as I think about it I would wonder what my child would do if they were not attending classes.   It is highly unlikely any company will be looking for college interns or college temporary workers for the next several months.  Given the lack of alternatives, and the difficulty associated with transferring classes into Stanford credits, I probably would pay unless I could quickly craft an amazing off the grid type family experience for 3-5 months.  The value is not great, but there are going to be very few credible alternatives, and even fewer that would not include a meaningful risk of COVID-19 exposure (Grocery store clerk, Amazon Prime delivery, census worker, etc.)