Okay...perhaps my bad on terminology...it was several years ago.
What I do know is he went to Stanford, had no personal costs or loans, and was loving it.
I will see if I can find the "precise" wording/situation from the parents.
Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
No harm done Steve.
The word "full ride" means a merit or athletic based accomplishment that pays 100% of tuition, books, and R&B. If that someone got merit $$'s from other sources, it is fair to call it a full ride. The key difference is that a full ride is not based off of income. I have heard of rare instances that smaller privates offer "full rides" but to their very best and brightest.
Sometimes athletes also get a "full ride" but this is becoming
incredibly rare. I have heard parents talk about how their son or daughter got a "full ride". Usually they get $3K-$5K for an atheletics scholarship and the remaining $$'s because they had an EFC (Expected Financial Contribution) of $0 on their FAFSA form. That happens often for gifted athletes. The schools 1st find FAFSA $$'s and state grants and later finally stare at what they can give. Later the student or parents talk about their "free ride". Not really... If they made $100K AGI, then 99% of the time they will be paying multi-thousands per year. Now there could be some TX football booster clubs with big oil money that fills in 100% of the tuition. I'm sure some people will know of these outlier examples. But I don't take 2nd hand information about scholarships as fact. Some parents like to embellish. But more often than not, they don't understand what a "free ride" really is.
Back to the Ivy's and Stanford. They are pulling from the top 1% of the student pool. So a lot of the students are brilliant. For UG, they don't give out merit based free rides. Getting into Stanford is an
incredible accomplishment by itself. To help illustrate my point, my DD is
currently ranked #1 academically in his class at USAFA; Stanford turned him down and he looked pretty good on paper. So to get a "free ride" at Stanford would be a
mind blowing accomplishment. But make under $67K AGI (
adjusted gross income) and between endowments, your local scholarships, and FAFSA, you pay zero. But the secret is getting in. As a skeptic, they see what HS you come from that have established demographics. Ever notice most of the students are pulled from the wealthier areas? Wealthier areas means that their endowments are better protected. I diverge...
That said, congrats to all of the USAFA parents and students. You earned your "free ride". Well done!