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Undergraduates with family income below $200k will be tuition-free at MIT

(news.mit.edu)
589 points gnabgib | 1 comments | 20 Nov 24 16:59 UTC | HN request time: 0.215s | source
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TheJoeMan ◴[20 Nov 24 19:26 UTC] No.42197249[source]▶
This is a great step in the right direction. I can't speak directly for MIT, but there are issues with how these programs don't apply to parents with small family businesses. My parents had a small business, with my father taking home a salary of $XX,XXX. Duke University used the business assets to determine the EFC (expected family contribution) of literally 90% of the salary. Essentially saying to sell off the family business for the college fund, which was a non-starter.

Small businesses are allegedly the backbone of America, and I feel these tuition support programs overlook this segment of the middle-class.

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JumpCrisscross ◴[20 Nov 24 20:00 UTC] No.42197538[source]▶
It’s incredibly difficult to structure these rules in a way that doesn’t discriminate against small businesses while not opening a giant loophole for the rich.
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changoplatanero ◴[20 Nov 24 22:06 UTC] No.42198599[source]▶
Why is the price you have to pay for something dependent on how much money your parents make? Feels so unfair
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mh- ◴[20 Nov 24 22:15 UTC] No.42198688[source]▶
In my opinion, you're reasoning about it incorrectly.

What if I said: the price is the same for everyone, but people with less access to money get proportionally more assistance paying that price?

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changoplatanero ◴[20 Nov 24 22:28 UTC] No.42198781[source]▶
still seems weird to me. is there any other product for 18-22 year olds where the price changes depending on their parents wealth?
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1. Jare ◴[20 Nov 24 23:02 UTC] No.42199048[source]▶
When I was 18-22 and living with my parents (pretty normal in Europe) I worked and contributed to the house expenses. I'm pretty sure kids of rich people don't do that. If I wanted to take out a loan, my parent's wouldn't be able to provide guarantees and thus the kind of loan and conditions I had access to would be much different than those a kid with rich parents could. In University people could also get grants based on your family income.

Those examples are varied and are not the same thing as purchasing a concrete product, yet I believe they are relevant to your question - education is a service that supports society, not a concrete product for your personal use and enjoyment. How and if you get it, relies not entirely on you at that point in your life, but heavily on your parents and in general on your family as a single economic unit to which you belong.