>>>A number of the Ivies and their peers are now grants-only, so students graduate with no debt... indicates that Ivies have about 50% of students receiving need-based grants. They're showing average cost after aid closer to $20.
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>Also true for the East-Coast feeder schools for Ivy League: most attendees now get some sort of financial aid.
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>It's suggested that reliance on financial aid even by traditional upper-middle class families, confirms reducing financial power unless you're in or close to the 1%. Meanwhile it locks in Ivy advantage that you can graduate with little or no debt if you go to Harvard or Wharton, but will need to pay it off if you went to a Mid-West State school.

When the grants-only trend started a decade or so back, at first, it looked like it would spread pretty widely. Then came the recession and only the richest schools could do it.

I watched kids around us pick based on cost rather than best fit (generally meaning they went to state schools rather than private) and was disturbed by it. (In most cases. In a few, it was clear that the parents could have made different choices along the way--fewer new cars, etc.--and had more money for college if they'd wanted.)

I don't have easy solutions, but agree that we need to find a way to lower the debt load of kids coming out of college.

Tamar