It’s like buying a piano. At some of those schools hardly anybody pays the sticker price. Will be interesting to see if advertising closer to the reality actually helps with enrollment.
We experienced the car salesman version of this. You can get a lot off the sticker price of a Chevy, a bit off a Toyota or a Honda, as long as you don't pick the most recent popular model, and good luck getting anything off BMW's latest hot car.
I will say that there were schools that gave us nothing. Skidmore, for example, is notorious for not giving a lot of merit aid. I've heard that Northeastern is, too. And Boston College specifically says that it doesn't give ANY merit aid, except for 25 Presidential scholarships that are, I think, full rides. However, they say that they meet demonstrated need for everyone, 100%.
Jodi
