JCG posted:jacjacatk posted:get the impression that the school mixes and matches on both merit and need-based awards to put together the financial packages it wants.
Exactly.
Here in CA where several schools in the UC system are very highly ranked, also have become very difficult to get into, and typically do not give a lot of aid to middle class families, I have a theory, based on anecdotal evidence, that the high academic privates make a point of matching what they expect the family's cost of attendance will be at a UC. The more middling privates will often come in with a lower cost of attendance than the UC.
It's not just the HA schools. Private and out of state public schools understand the way the UCs are impacted right now and the caliber of students that are being turned away by the UC system. Rather than see those students either bounce to a JC to do a 2-year stint and then transfer into a UC school or attend a CSU school, they offer the students attractive pricing which is comparable to attending a UC at in-state rates to entice them to attend. It works for the schools as they end up getting higher caliber students into their doors, for the students who get to attend otherwise fine research universities, and for the parents who in cases like mine really see no downside financially speaking.