It is true but only for the most part. My family income was below 60K, but my aid packages varied wildly among supposed peer institutions.
Harvard was the most generous, fully funded tuition + room/board + clothing stipend (presumably to keep up with the lifestyles of what would have been my wealthier classmates) + transportation stipend to fly back home for holidays.
All of the other Ivies (Columbia, Cornell, Penn) had roughly the same deal - full tuition and room/board
Hopkins - I required that I borrow 15k over 4 years to attend. Interestingly, this is the school I ended up going to.
I went to an Ivy that made a "no loan" guarantee for me. Each successive year, their aid package got successively worse so I received less grant aid. I ended up with $10k in debt by the time I graduated.
...clothing stipend (presumably to keep up with the lifestyles of what would have been my wealthier classmates)...
It might just be a way of saying "pocket money", but if someone objected, this could be justified by Boston's climate. Poor students from warmer places are unlikely to own a sufficient range of coats and hats.
Harvard was the most generous, fully funded tuition + room/board + clothing stipend (presumably to keep up with the lifestyles of what would have been my wealthier classmates) + transportation stipend to fly back home for holidays.
All of the other Ivies (Columbia, Cornell, Penn) had roughly the same deal - full tuition and room/board
Hopkins - I required that I borrow 15k over 4 years to attend. Interestingly, this is the school I ended up going to.