On Feb. 20, Stanford University announced they would be eliminating tuition for families that have an income of less than $100,000 a year, giving a significant financial break for middle class families, according to The Chronicle

However, students still will have to pay at least $4,500 in other educational expenses. Nonetheless, the price of education is still relatively cheap in comparison to other top-notch schools.
I’m glad to see that the financial break is aimed at middle class families. I remember when my sister was applying for colleges, she was denied significant amounts of financial aide because of our family income was greater than others, so those with a lower income got the scholarship.

Stanford, following the lead of Harvard and Yale in the tuition break, is now going to be in serious competition with UC’s. Most of my friends in the Bay Area either go to a UC, and of they don’t, they at least applied to a UC. But now that Stanford is more affordable for them, come fall many will be adding the renowned school tops their list of prospective Universities.

Selfishly, my only concern is that now that Stanford is appealing to more students, I will have more competition if I choose to apply there. At the same time, I’m hoping that because more people will be aiming to go to Stanford now, competition to get into a UC will decrease.

But overall, I can’t say how overjoyed I was when I heard the news. Right now, I’m at City College, and I plan to transfer, because I wanted to minimize the financial burden school would put on my family. My goal, as far fetched as it may be, is that I do not want to start off my professional life once I finish school with a debt on my shoulders. Big or small, I want no debt whatsoever. I know, sounds impossible, but I definitely want to try, and this break in tuition that Stanford is offering is helps me think that my goal may have a chance of being feasible after all. – Maahum Chaudhry