I'm not sure if it's still true, but that was a development that occurred in the mid-to-late 2000s. Before then financial aid was aimed at poor students. But if

I'm not sure if it's still true, but that was a development that occurred in the mid-to-late 2000s. Before then financial aid was aimed at poor students. But if your family was middle class, you'd get virtually nothing (but loan options). I know several people who attend UIUC with me who got accepted to MIT, Stanford, etc, but their parents couldn't afford private school. But by the time my sister went to school, all the elite schools offered better terms.