Schools which have no (or limited) merit aid and rely soley on fafsa experience the "bow-tie" effect. Students of middle class parents are squeezed out; children of wealthy parents can afford the price and children of poorer parents get decent FA. I think an example is Wash U of St. Louis (which as of last year did not do need-blind admission decisions) and runs over 55k per year. At the other end of the spectrum are the Ivy league schools - especially Harvard, Yale, and Princeton whose FA is in the form of grants and make the price of a HYP education, for middle class families, in line with a state school. A better deal cannot be had.