Stanford Eliminates Tuition

News Flash: Stanford on the Cheap

February 22, 2008

Looks like Stanford has jumped on the more affordable higher-education bandwagon. Stanford's new plan will eliminate tuition for students with household incomes less than $100,000, and households earning less than $60,000 will have most of their room and board covered as well. This fall, the school's tuition will rise to $36,000 and room and board will cost about $11,000. About a third of Stanford's undergrads should qualify for the tuition break. This news comes after Harvard and Yale made similar announcements last month. I wonder which school will be next!

Source

21 Comments

hausfrau 5 years 12 weeks

I understand that only the upper crust get into these schools, and yes, that is based on merit. But then they should further classify via essays or interviews to see who is the BEST of the best and then give THOSE people the money.How much your family makes shouldn't be a factor in tuition cost period. All this will do is penalize kids whose parents are successful.

hausfrau 5 years 12 weeks

I understand that only the upper crust get into these schools, and yes, that is based on merit. But then they should further classify via essays or interviews to see who is the BEST of the best and then give THOSE people the money. How much your family makes shouldn't be a factor in tuition cost period. All this will do is penalize kids whose parents are successful.

pyleela 5 years 12 weeks

Also, once you're admitted, they do take into account how many siblings you have as well as their ages. My roommate is a freshman (like me! :D ), and her sister is a sophomore. Her family has to pay only 25% more for her than they did last year when it was only her sister here. I'm so excited for this plan! I didn't get ANY financial aid for this year, and this will definitely help my family out as well. Being upper middle-class really hurts in financial issues with education.

pyleela 5 years 12 weeks

Also, once you're admitted, they do take into account how many siblings you have as well as their ages. My roommate is a freshman (like me! :D ), and her sister is a sophomore. Her family has to pay only 25% more for her than they did last year when it was only her sister here.I'm so excited for this plan! I didn't get ANY financial aid for this year, and this will definitely help my family out as well. Being upper middle-class really hurts in financial issues with education.

GlowingMoon 5 years 12 weeks

I wish this program was available for me and my family! I already paid off my student loans! :jawdrop:

hotstuff 5 years 12 weeks

Preach Pet!

hotstuff 5 years 12 weeks

Preach Pet!

shanimalcracker 5 years 12 weeks

Whoo, go PetSugar!

shanimalcracker 5 years 12 weeks

Whoo, go PetSugar!

POPSUGAR Pets 5 years 12 weeks

Admission decisions are based on merit, and merit only. There are no quotas or cutoffs for students who apply to Stanford. The caliber of students seen in the total applicant pool gets stronger every year, and the goal is to find students who are well matched with the institution, not the perfect scores or GPAs. The reason why these colleges offer need based financial aid only is because every single student who gets in would be deserving of a merit based scholarship. Secondly, as a need blind institution (for US citizens and perm res), the admission officers do not see your family's financial information when evaluating the application and making the decision. This financial aid announcement will not be affecting the decision making process of the institution but instead the decision making process of the families after receiving their acceptance and financial aid package. While the financial aid packages will change, it does not mean that if you make $101,000, for example, that you are going to be responsible for the full amount. The tuition rates go up at a prorated amount based on income, but also considering the number of other children in the family/ in college, debt, home ownership/rental, cost of living in your city, along with several other factors. This should not be looked at as a penalty for those families who work hard and have the money to pay for a college education but more that it is helping all students understand that a university that may have been originally written off as "too expensive" is actually more affordable than you may think.

POPSUGAR Pets 5 years 12 weeks

lilkimbo 5 years 12 weeks

I don't agree with this because it seems like it will make the cost higher for other students. If they are going to offer tuition and/or room and board breaks, it should be on some sort of graduated scale. Think of it this way: one student is an only child and comes from a single-parent home and that parent makes $98,000 a year; another comes from a home with two parents and six siblings and those parents make $101,000 a year. The person with the $49,000 per member of the household would receive free tuition, but the person with $11,222 per member of the household wouldn't. It just doesn't make any sense to me.

DreaAST 5 years 12 weeks

This is good but I am so irriated by it. Seriosly, what motivation is there for parents to work to their full potential now. We have a dual income family and make more than $100,000. However, we are by no means wealthy. My step kids are in 9th and 8th grade and I am so worried how we are going to afford for them to go to college with these prices. But then Stanford offers this. So what they are saying is people like us who have 2 "good" incomes are being hurt. I would be better off quitting my job so my kids can get these benefits. It just bugs me that there is no motivation for people to work now.

EastVillageAmy 5 years 12 weeks

I think it's great! I hope Columbia decides to do the same plan.

ktownpolarbear 5 years 12 weeks

whil i think it's great that schoools are beginning to offer this option, realistically it affects like what a teeny tiny portion of students who can get in to the institution. so, maybe like 1 out of every 10,000 students? is that really going to make a difference? also, in my own personal experience, i've known students who are exceptional students, one guy was taking online courses at stanford, and still didn't get in but got full rides to harvard and yale, b/c stanford had some sort of personal vendetta against our school. like, application acceptances are so subjective, i honestly don't think it's going to make any difference.

karisaamy 5 years 12 weeks

I think this is great, all of these schools are hard to get into on merit to start off with. This will give those extremely smart but not very well off students a great leg up. I think this is a good idea, knowing that it wouldn't happen at a community college.

amers230 5 years 12 weeks

i have to say that if this had been in place when i was in high school, i probably would have worked much harder in order to be able to get in to these schools. however i knew that i'd never be able to afford going out of state, let alone to an ivy league school for college so i never really put forth as much effort as i know i could have. i def. think this is a step in the right direction.

Schlem33 5 years 12 weeks

First off, can I please have my student loan debt cancelled. What Stanford is doing is great in a way, but it stinks pretty bad for recent grads, such as myself, who are now paying back student loans! Also, so many people are going to apply for this that the gpa and/or other requirements to get in are going to be astronomical thus not leaving much chance for many middle of the road type students. Yes, Stanford is for the upper crest of students in to begin with but there will be a much tighter competition now. Guess they better get on those extra-curricular activites!

aljefferson tbag 5 years 12 weeks

it already is based on merit! you cannot get into these schools without good grades. making schools more affordable for "lower income households" will create a stronger diversity of students from less affluent backgrounds ... which is a good thang! who wants to go to a school with nothing but rich-spoon fed smarty pants?

hausfrau 5 years 12 weeks

This bothers me. I think its great to make excellent colleges more affordable, but doing it based on income is not the right way to go. How exactly do you motivate people to work hard and be the best of the best when you're showing them that when they finally do, they'll be penalized for it by having to pay 10s of thousands of dollars for their child to go to the same school they did?This would be a great plan if it was based on merit and not income.

hausfrau 5 years 12 weeks

This bothers me. I think its great to make excellent colleges more affordable, but doing it based on income is not the right way to go. How exactly do you motivate people to work hard and be the best of the best when you're showing them that when they finally do, they'll be penalized for it by having to pay 10s of thousands of dollars for their child to go to the same school they did? This would be a great plan if it was based on merit and not income.

Link Love

21 Comments

You Might Also Like