I can’t tell from your post if you’re offended. If you are- it wasn’t my intent and I apologize.
If it was just inflows and outflows that would be a black and white calculation but it’s much more complicated than that and there’s lots of gray areas in between- and again, there’s going to be lots of strong points on both sides. It would also give families the opportunity to play the system if they knew the weight that each item carries.
For example-
I once overheard a (stay at home) mother in the park saying that she got a job offer but won’t be accepting it since after all the handouts outs that she’s going to lose out on and the extra tuition she’s going to pay- she’s going to come home with only $2 per hour. Do you think that’s fair to everyone else who’s working hard and would love to stay home and spend more time with their kids? Would it be fair to add an extra $50,000 income to the scholarship calculation for any able bodied person who chooses not to work?
How about the people that got their houses for free? Is it fair that those working hard to pay their mortgage and full tuition should be subsidizing the tuition of those who have no mortgage and could take out a heloc? I also understand why someone would have concerns about having a lien on their home. I see both sides.
There was a school where parents found out that they gave discounts to families from a neighboring community (regardless of whether they needed it or not, full tuition was less). Their response was that “you have no choice where to send your kids- they can decide between us and a different neighboring community so we need to compete for them”. They weren’t adding more classes so the marginal cost per kid was small but it brought in lots of money. Again, I can see both sides.
Take two similar people- one who has no problem getting his hands dirty and maintaining his house and car while the other one wouldn’t dare climb under a car. Car and house maintenance is a legitimate expense for the latter one while the former one may not agree. This is another gray area. How would you handle that if you were on the committee?
The tax deductible receipt one had me scratching my head as well- I can’t imagine that there’s that many families that pay above the amount of what it costs to educate their kids and would make a stink about the extra amount. The tax savings wouldn’t be insignificant and the “donation” amount could possibly be doubled if their employers have matching gift programs. Luckily I’m not part of a scholarship committee.