But why should they offer anyone free tuition? If people are willing to pay their exorbitant fees, of course they're going to charge them. A lot of the schools with these huge endowments already offer tremendous financial aid packages. What these schools have decided is that people who earn over a certain amount can and should pay more. They'll change their policies and stop charging tuition when the upper middle class - who don't qualify for their tremendous aid - stop taking on home equity loans to allow their kids to go there.
And I believe the Harvards and the Princetons of the world will stop charging tuition soon - they're losing the upper middle class to the state schools. If you go to the Penn State main campus and look around, there is a lot of upper middle class privilege there. They have parents who are looking at the 28 grand price tag and seeing a bargain.