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Comment by jgalt212 | Hacker News Reader

This is, of course, good news for many families of current and/future Stanford students. That being said, the upper middle class continues to get screwed in this country. UMC produces most of the GNP, and pays most of the taxes (sorry no carried interest tax loopholes available to those who draw salaries), and then we still have to pay these crazy tuition fees.

The oligarchs, of course, don't care who much college costs be it 0$K, $100K or $200K year. Any at cost basis, it just doesn't make a dent in their wallet.

Down with the oligarchs!

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Yeah, I feel pretty bad for the top 13% wage earners in the US (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/15/business/one-p...). They really have it rough.

The poor upper middle class. Always getting screwed.

The UMC is also the most hard-working class, who is carefully taking responsibilities for their families etc. And guess what, it's the most exploited/punished/screwed class by either tax system or zero-tuition policy like this.

it looks like getting divorced, or one couple quitting job before kids are going to apply for college, or having unlimited kids, are the right strategies for the best colleges application than otherwise. I actually know one family did just that, the college-educated mid-age mom quit her job so her daughter got all the financial support from Harvard, and she is walking her dog on the community daily to stay fit now(instead of working). I am not sure if she will be back to work after 4 years when her kid graduates.

Basically, the more screwed your (family) situation is, the more helps are there for you for free, even for the most prestigious universities admission! only the sky is the limit.

> The UMC is also the most hard-working class, who is carefully taking responsibilities for their families etc.

I very much doubt the veracity of this broad generalisation.

Indeed I'd be most surprised if there was any correlation between hard work and socioeconomic status, given that there are such a wide range of employment roles (including self-employed) in which one can work very hard, yet with such diverse financial rewards.

Prepare to be surprised:

http://www.nber.org/digest/jul06/w11895.html

Interesting paper, thanks for the link. However, I do wonder to what extent the extra hours are voluntary, and if this definition relates to working harder (rather than longer).

There's also the conveniently undefined term 'hard-working'. It's likely too difficult to compare 'work hardness' across 'jobs'. Does a farm laborer who gets paid less than minimum wage and spends every day toiling in the fields really work 'less hard' than a lawyer who bills 60 hours a week from his air-conditioned office that he commutes to in his BMW from the suburbs? I doubt it.

And yet, despite being screwed, they're still above the rest of the middle class and the working class.

If it's really that onerous, take a pay cut and enjoy a drop to the MMC or LMC. Or join the working class. They don't pay much (individually) in the way of taxes, so apparently they're not screwed much. Life would be pretty sweet there!

Any lower-class parent would be delighted to have the money to contribute to their child's education. Stop worrying that someone else might be getting a better deal than you are and be happy you can afford it. Why does it upset that someone else is getting help? Be happy for them and be glad you don't need it, and get on with your life.

I challenge you to provide evidence supporting your "most of the taxes" claim.

Try this, for 2011 numbers:

http://www.heritage.org/federalbudget/top10-percent-income-e...

This chart summarizes decades of numbers pretty well:

http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5033e3e3ecad0494170...

... it's from this article, which gives lots more detail:

http://www.businessinsider.com/who-pays-taxes-2012-8?op=1

There has to be a cut-off somewhere. Too many hand-outs would destroy the values that enables a person to get to be upper middle class.

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