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737 points gnabgib | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.237s | source
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TheJoeMan ◴[] 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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1. matt-p ◴[] No.42202554[source]
A difficult problem, if you own a business then your "income" is completely manipulatable.

If your parents run a struggling corner store then you should be eligible, but if they own a successful chain of stores, maybe not.

Why not just say Income of 200K, or if you own a business then income + pre tax profits <=200K and book assets <500K or something?