Low Income? These Schools Will Cost Parents Nothing.

The title of a recent article in The New York Times was an eye catcher: "The (Yes) Low Cost of Higher Ed." The title is, of course, misleading. For most students going to most schools, college is anything but inexpensive. But a few elite schools are making college more affordable for students whose families have modest incomes. In fact, a few schools promise that parents will pay nothing if the family income is under $60,000. These schools include:

• Brown (plus grants replace loans for families earning under $100,000)
• Columbia (plus grants replace loans for all students)
• Duke
• Harvard (plus grants replace loans for all students)
• Stanford (plus grants replace loans for all students)
• Yale (plus grants replace loans for all students)

The great challenge, of course, is getting into these extremely competitive schools (only about 7% of applicants were admitted to Harvard this spring). Also, a student may need to contribute some money to his or her education through work study or summer employment.