I went to Stanford as an undergrad just a few years after this bidding war between top universities began. The additional financial aid I received saved my family and me more than $100k -- that figure would be much higher if we factor in the interest on the loans I didn't have to take -- and I will be forever grateful. I applaud Stanford for expanding this program.
But I'm also a little sad about the way this is playing out, because the net effect is to set the top private universities even further apart from the many great universities that nonetheless can't afford policies like this. There's already so much pressure on a lot of kids to get into a top private university, and now many of them are in a position where if they don't get into one of the top four, their only option is a public school. (And yes, there exist public schools, such as Cal, which one can argue deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as H/P/Y/S, but certainly there isn't a UC Berkeley in every state, and going to a public school out of state can be as expensive as going to a private school.)
If you really want to be sad, take a look at how short is the list of schools with need-blind admission that claim to meet all demonstrated need:
This is a supremely low bar, because schools get to define how much you need; there's no standard for this. And of course schools can meet your need with loans. But even still, the schools on this list are the only ones in the country which even claim to be meritocratic in their admission of US applicants.
But I'm also a little sad about the way this is playing out, because the net effect is to set the top private universities even further apart from the many great universities that nonetheless can't afford policies like this. There's already so much pressure on a lot of kids to get into a top private university, and now many of them are in a position where if they don't get into one of the top four, their only option is a public school. (And yes, there exist public schools, such as Cal, which one can argue deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as H/P/Y/S, but certainly there isn't a UC Berkeley in every state, and going to a public school out of state can be as expensive as going to a private school.)
If you really want to be sad, take a look at how short is the list of schools with need-blind admission that claim to meet all demonstrated need:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission#U.S._insti...
This is a supremely low bar, because schools get to define how much you need; there's no standard for this. And of course schools can meet your need with loans. But even still, the schools on this list are the only ones in the country which even claim to be meritocratic in their admission of US applicants.