Elite Universities give out financial aid for demonstrated need, and it seems to me it is pretty fairly done. Rich Americans and all foreigners pay full freight. Poor Americans get lots of grants. The middle class gets a mixed bag in between.
If you want a merit scholarship, there are plenty of private ones out there. I held one from the Swiss Benevolent Society of Chicago. It required proof that I was of Swiss Ancestory and had a 3.5 GPA. The local Railway Club business group I belong to funds a coupel of scholarships per yer for meritorious children of members. The National Merit Scholarship is always available to those who actually are meritorious on the College Boards (I got that too). Some friends of mine got a full ride merit scholarships from a local philanthropist, who funded four-six kids per year from Mt. Union, PA to go to elite schools.
Have you filled out a FISA form lately -- the form that's used by most schools to determine "need"? If you had, you would know that middle class Americans fall far above the line used to determine "need." They must "pay full freight," which usually means taking out large student loans
Poor Americans get lots of grants.
"Poor" Americans don't get admitted to elite schools-- unless they're URMs. If they're URMs, they get huge grants.
I know a student who was admitted to MIT. He's an American citizen of Asian extraction. Asians are a "minority," but they're not an underrepresented minority, you see. Ergo, he was offered no scholarship and couldn't afford to attend.
The middle class gets a mixed bag in between.
There's the rub. That's the group I was talking about, and it is a very large group. Many of these students won't even apply to elite schools because no merit scholarships are offered to offset the huge tuitions.
Who loses? The elite schools. The vast numbers of meritorious "middle class" students go somewhere they can get an affordable education. Chances are, that "somewhere" offers a better education than the elite school anyway.
If you want a merit scholarship, there are plenty of private ones out there.
Yes, my children all went to college on private scholarships, including a National Merit scholarship. Elite schools offer little, usually nothing, to National Merit scholars.