Princeton just made college more affordable by ditching student loans and covering tuition
This sounds radical but it's actually life-changing for students who qualify.

Princeton just made college more affordable.
Many parents know the excitement and apprehension that comes with college application season. We encourage our children to reach for the stars and then sticker shock sets in when they get into their dream school. It's a feeling that will quickly apply the gravity of Jupiter onto any excitement you might have been feeling as a parent, but Princeton, an Ivy League university, is about to change lives. The prestigious school recently announced that it has removed student loans from its financial aid packages and will cover the tuition including room and board for students whose families make less than $100,000 a year.
Whoa! This is huge news, but this isn't the first time Princeton has done something like this. Even before announcing this monumental change, it has granted free tuition for students from families making less than $65,000. The income limit increase will allow the school to help more families afford a higher education. Granted, most kids applying for college won't qualify for entrance to the school due to its highly competitive admissions process. But there are plenty of teens that do qualify and can't attend because the price tag isn't always covered completely by financial aid and scholarships.
The current cost of attendance at Princeton for the 2022-2023 academic year is $79,540, which includes room, board and miscellaneous fees. On average, college costs between $11,631 to $28, 238 per year for a public university depending on whether the student is considered in-state or out-of-state. For a private college, the average cost is $43,775. The price difference between Princeton and the average cost of tuition is staggering, but it's Princeton, one of the most prestigious colleges in the United States.
Princeton eliminating the option for student loans in 2001 and now providing a free education for qualifying students will help them graduate without any college debt, likely changing the course of the students' lives. The average student loan borrower owes more than $30,000 in student loans, which has been shown to affect their ability to purchase homes and increase their personal wealth. Eliminating school debt for students from low and middle class households will allow for upward mobility and an easier path forward to building wealth.
But Princeton isn't the only school that took the option for student loans away and offered up free education. Colgate University announced in 2021 that it would do away with what some call predatory student loans and replace them with grants funded by a $1.3 billion endowment. The private New York college also made tuition free for students whose families make $80,000 a year or less.
Colleges are hearing the concerns about the amount of student debt people have to take on—an issue that causes some people to opt out of college altogether. Yale, Amherst and Harvard have also cut loans from their financial aid packages, vowing to work with parents to provide enough aid through grants that loans won't be needed. If more schools take this approach we could eliminate the normalcy of graduating with mountains of student loan debt that seems to grow no matter if you make timely payments or not.
Sure, it's Princeton and other Ivy League schools that are using their deep pockets to give their students the best start, but if they can do it, what's stopping other schools from reworking their numbers? Student loan debt relief shouldn't begin and end at elite universities. Taking a hard look into the student loan crisis and finding tangible ways to address it at the colleges themselves could lead to an economic shift in the future. Hopefully other colleges continue to take note.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.