Daniela Amodei waded into the discourse around companies overspending on AI.
The Anthropic president is optimistic that much more capable AI models are on the way.
Anthropic’s AI use is tracked without a leaderboard, she said.
Daniela Amodei has entered the tokenmaxxing discourse in Silicon Valley — and no, Anthropic does not have an AI leaderboard.
At Thursday’s Bloomberg Tech conference in San Francisco, the Anthropic president and co-founder took a question about tokenmaxxing, where developers use as much AI as possible and rack up huge bills with unclear business payoffs.
Amodei was diplomatic, but offered a bullish vision.
She said that though AI models have dramatically improved over the last two years, this isn’t the end state of their progress.
“I actually think there’s a lot more distance to go still for what the models will be able to do two to four, six to eight years in the future,” Amodei said.
The executive also said businesses will find new ways to use the tools, and learn together as a larger community.
She acknowledged that workers are reckoning with a new paradigm, where they’re directed to use AI and sometimes even tracked by their employers.
“Today there’s this feeling that’s like, ‘Oh, like AI, you know, the leaderboards, and it’s like I have to use it, and what am I going to use it for?'” Amodei said. “My hope is that over time it’ll be more incorporated into the day-to-day of how humans do our work, how we communicate together, and that there will actually be a lot more value realized in a way that feels really good to people.”
Anthropic does not have a token-usage leaderboard, she noted, though the company does track general use of the company’s Claude products as teams work.
“But there’s not like, ‘You must use AI and you must use Claude’,” she added.
Claude Code, Anthropic’s juggernaut AI-coding product, is one of the main drivers of the tokenmaxxing discourse.
The tool uses significantly more tokens — the units of AI input and output — than a classic chatbot interface. That gap grew more substantial with the advent of agents, which a user can direct to autonomously churn through tasks. Anthropic and OpenAI partly charge on a per-token basis, so the boom in AI coding has fueled a surge in revenue.
Companies are navigating how to spend on AI, after some executives at top companies encouraged a freewheeling attitude. Amazon recently shut down an informal, employee-made leaderboard that tracked the use of AI tokens.
“Please don’t use AI just for the sake of using AI,” Dave Treadwell, an Amazon senior vice president, told staff.
A similar leaderboard at Meta was taken down by the employee who made it, The Information reported. It had been titled “Claudeonomics.”
Challenger, Gray & Christmas said that layoffs attributed to AI in 2026 have already vastly surpassed the total number for all of 2025.
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Challenger said AI was the cited reason for 40% of job cuts in May.
In 2026, AI is the leading reason companies cite for layoffs.
The outplacement firm also said this isn’t “yet the jobpocalypse some predicted.”
AI may not be a complete disaster for jobs yet, but companies are citing it more than any other reason when announcing layoffs, according to a new report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The global outplacement firm’s latest report said AI accounted for 40% of 97,006 job cuts by US-based employers in May, the highest monthly total since Challenger began tracking AI as a reason for layoffs in 2023. So far in 2026, Challenger says 87,714 cuts have been attributed to AI, far surpassing the total of 54,836 in 2025.
“AI isn’t yet the jobpocalypse some predicted,” Andy Challenger, labor and workplace expert and chief revenue officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement accompanying the report. “Like spreadsheets and email before it, the technology will ultimately make workers more productive, but our data shows companies are already acting on it, citing AI for more cuts than any other reason.”
Overall, Challenger found that May 2026 saw the highest number of layoffs since 2020, when 397,016 job cuts were announced during the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Technology remains the leading sector for layoffs by “a wide margin,” the report said.
The extent to which AI is to blame for layoffs is highly contested, including, not surprisingly, by those whose companies are directly involved in the AI boom. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently said companies were “AI washing” their layoffs, blaming the nascent technology for their decisions when other business factors were at play.
Elsewhere, Apollo Global Management’s chief economist Torsten Sløk wrote last week that he sees “zero evidence of job losses because of AI,” citing the ADP National Employment Report.
Outside of AI, Challenger’s report found that so far this year, the next biggest reasons attributed to layoffs are “market and economic conditions,” which have been cited for 69,645 cuts; “closings,” which have been cited for 66,733 cuts; and “restructuring,” which has been attributed to 52,249.
The US Army’s next-generation command system is designed to face-off against a well armed adversary.
Photo by Kathryn Bailey/Capability Program Executive Command and Control Information Network
The US Army’s new command and control system is more mobile and spread out across posts.
Soldiers said it doesn’t take long to break down the post and they’re still connected while moving.
The mobile, dispersed posts also help troops blend in on the electromagnetic spectrum.
Future warfare will be fast-paced and chaotic. That’s forcing the US Army to rethink the field posts that are increasingly in their enemy’s crosshairs.
The problem for the US is straightforward: Command posts send and receive a high volume of transmissions on battlefield information that an advanced adversary, like Russia or China, could detect and target.
These threats have shifted the US Army’s thinking on its new warfighting system, Next Generation Command and Control. The technology, also called NGC2, is a total revamp of how the Army communicates and fights. Most of the capabilities have only been built over the last few months.
Last month at Fort Carson, Colorado, the Army ran a division-level drill with NGC2. The scenario involved a blue and red team fighting alongside many of the capabilities, like electronic warfare, cyber systems, and space-based effects, that the Army anticipates it could face in a potential conflict. It was the most complex testing of NGC2 thus far, with troops wargaming the system in a realistic combat scenario.
“We learned a lot about how to employ that technology and what it feels like when that technology is employed against you,” Maj. Gen. Patrick Ellis, commander of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, told reporters.
On the ground at Fort Carson, various camouflage tents were spread far out across miles, each concealing vehicles with computers running NGC2. These vehicles make up the command posts for NGC2, designed to be further away from one another and, most importantly, mobile and potentially more survivable.
Anduril Industries was the prime contractor that built the 4th ID’s command system under a $100 million contract awarded in 2025.
The posts, like this one, only take a few soldiers to operate.
Photo by Chris Panella/Business Insider
With the computers in the vehicles themselves, the post can rapidly move to another location. All that needs to be done is breaking down the tent and some other logistics equipment.
“I’d say at the most, like about 30 minutes for us to set up, tear down,” Maj. Dan Hickox told Business Insider outside the command post where soldiers identified enemy targets. The netting that covers the post takes the most time. At other posts, the timeframe was similar. Soldiers could pack up, load the vehicle, and get on the move in half an hour or less.
The posts themselves being dispersed across areas, sometimes miles, and not within visual contact, was initially jarring. “If you were to tell me about eight months ago that I would be by myself” not near complimentary teams, Hickox said, “I probably would have a heart attack. I need to get in there in person, sit down next to people, be able to talk. But now there is chat architecture and everything else, it doesn’t make any difference.”
Command posts are relay points for information and communication regarding every aspect of warfighting, from targeting to medical support, tracking enemy movements, and monitoring how the fight is going. Inside these posts, Army leaders and specialists act as the hubs of intelligence and situational awareness that inform battlefield decisions.
Since these posts are vital to a force’s ability to fight, they are prime targets. The war in Ukraine has demonstrated that command posts with large and static footprints can be found, targeted, and destroyed quickly. Ukraine’s success in attacking Russian commanders has shown the US that its command posts are too big and noticeable, and the Army has been rethinking how to shrink and disperse posts to become smaller nodes that are more survivable.
While the vehicle is on the move to another location, soldiers can still communicate, run through data, and keep connected to other posts. There may be a drop in loading or sending time, but it’s not too much to notice. And each command post has built-in redundancy, meaning its functions — like finding targets — can be done by another post if the post is offline or is damaged.
“The fact that we have the ability to maintain communications with folks and it’s not just exclusive to chat” but also voice call, Hickox said, “is really impressive.” It reduces the downtime between an order and reports as it’s executed, small delays that can add up.
Electronic warfare, including offensive and defense capabilities, were at the forefront of the exercise.
Photo by Chris Panella/Business Insider
Having the posts be mobile and easy to set up gives soldiers more options for keeping their signatures obscured on the electromagnetic spectrum. Soldiers said the vehicle could be driven to a number of locations that would help it hide or reduce its chances of being electronically detected, such as a ditch or within trees. In an urban environment, the post could be moved to a built-up area.
And while on the move, the vehicle can more blend into the noise, whether by operating on the same frequencies or connections as other systems or vehicles, or by looking similar on the spectrum to other Army assets so it’s difficult for the enemy to tell who’s who.
Soldiers follow guidelines from command on how to hide in the spectrum, crank up the noise to overwhelm frequencies, or which networks to use. If they lose connection or get jammed, there are backup ways to send data on NGC2.
“I think a lot of it comes down to what we think the enemy is going to be able to monitor and then adjusting from there,” Lt. Col. Tim Chess told Business Insider.
The exercise more broadly ramped up the use of electronic warfare effects on soldiers, including interference and jamming. Some electronic warfare objectives were what Ellis described as learning opportunities, like soldiers identifying the source of jamming and then destroying it in order to resume connection.
“So they also feel the effects of what happens when you destroy it or why you should focus on it because then your radio communications and your digital communications all get better,” he said. “We’re balancing some learning objectives with also reinforcing some good behaviors.”
Some of the most exclusive schools in the US offer free-tuition programs for lower- and middle-class students.
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The cost of a college education keeps rising, hitting six figures annually at some schools.
Dozens of schools across the US offer free tuition, often tied to income or work requirements.
Some of the most selective colleges and universities offer generous financial aid for students.
The cost of a college education has only been rising, and at some US schools, the annual sticker price now surpasses $100,000.
As millions of Americans drown in student debt, some schools have implemented policies to help students better afford higher education, including free-tuition initiatives.
The financial aid landscape in the US is often complicated, riddled with ultra-specific jargon, and can look entirely different from family to family. In many cases, “tuition-free” does not mean the entire cost of college is covered, and students may still be responsible for housing, food, books, fees, health insurance, travel, or personal expenses.
Some of these schools are elite institutions ranking among the hardest schools to get into in the US, while others are designated work colleges offering free tuition in exchange for students working on-campus jobs.
While many of these schools advertise free tuition or need-based financial-aid packages, the reality is that the cost of attendance can vary between families and depend on factors such as income, household size, state residency, and whether (and how) assets like home equity or investment funds are considered.
Often, universities have financial aid calculators on their website where prospective students and families can estimate the net cost of attendance that would apply to their financial situation.
Business Insider examined the financial aid offerings of colleges across the US and identified schools that advertise a free-tuition model for at least some students. For each school, we included the eligibility criteria, including the family income threshold, and what costs are covered.
While this list may not be exhaustive, as many smaller schools offer financial aid packages that could cover full tuition costs, this selection indicates where some students may have a path for debt-free higher education. We also excluded the five US military academies, where cadets attend tuition-free, with room and board, as they typically entail a service obligation after graduation.
These 40 US colleges and university systems offer tuition-free education paths for at least some students, though eligibility may depend on income, residency, work requirements, tribal affiliation, or field of study.
Alice Lloyd College in Pippa Passes, Kentucky
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Family income cutoff: None
What’s covered: Full tuition for students from the school’s Central Appalachian service area.
Alice Lloyd College’s Appalachian Leaders Scholarship is available to all students from the 108-county Appalachian service region designated by the school, which covers parts of Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The college is also one of 10 “federally recognized work-study colleges” in the US, per the school’s website, and all full-time students are required to work a minimum of 10 hours a week at an on- or off-campus job.
Aside from free tuition and work-study, students may also receive financial aid in the form of grants and privately funded scholarships.
Students are expected to pay for their living expenses, including food and housing, depending on their financial aid package.
Barclay College in Haviland, Kansas
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Family income cutoff: None
What’s covered: Full cost of tuition for full-time students living on-campus.
Aside from the scholarship covering the full cost of tuition for students living in on-campus dormitories, the school also covers half of tuition for students living off-campus and offers a $1,000 annual scholarship to be used toward the cost of housing and food.
Students may also receive federal financial aid, such as grants or loans, to offset room and board costs.
Berea College in Berea, Kentucky
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Family income cutoff: None
What’s covered: Full tuition for all students.
Berea College says that no student has paid for tuition since 1892.
The college, another of the 10 federally recognized work colleges, also requires all students to work a minimum of 10 hours at a campus job.
Aside from the free tuition scholarship and work-study program, the school also provides some students with support through stipends for professional clothing and free laptops.
Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts
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Family income cutoff: $75,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for domestic students with family incomes and typical assets of less than $75,000. Students from families earning under $200,000 also receive grants and scholarships covering half of the tuition costs.
The school has also pledged to “meet 100% of demonstrated financial need” for first-year students from qualifying families, including those ineligible for federal aid, according to the school’s website.
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California
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Family income cutoff: $200,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for eligible students with family income under $200,000. Students with families earning under $100,000 a year receive financial aid packages that cover the full cost of tuition, fees, housing, and food.
The school also says it meets 100% of “a student’s demonstrated financial need through grants, scholarships, work-study, and loans,” per the school website.
Colgate University in Hamilton, New York
Colgate University is located in Upstate New York.
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Family income cutoff: $175,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for US students with annual family income of $175,000 or less.
Starting in fall 2026, the school is also offering students with family incomes of up to $200,000 loan-free tuition packages.
Families earning between $200,000 and $250,000 will only pay about 7% of their income toward tuition. For those earning between $250,000 and $300,000, the percentage rises to 10%.
College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri
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Family income cutoff: None
What’s covered: Full tuition for all full-time students.
Students at the College of the Ozarks are not charged tuition. Instead, all full-time students participate in the school’s on-campus work program for 15 hours a week.
In addition to the work program, the school also covers tuition through its Tuition Assurance Scholarship, which each student receives.
The school says the model allows students to graduate debt-free, though students may still need to cover other personal costs.
Columbia University in New York City
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Family income cutoff: $150,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for students from families earning less than $150,000 with typical assets.
Columbia says students from families with annual incomes under $150,000 and typical assets can attend tuition-free, and that the expected parent contribution for families earning under $66,000 is $0.
The school’s financial aid packages are covered through grants and scholarships, and loans are not used to meet students’ financial needs.
Cornell University in Ithaca, New York
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Family income cutoff: $75,000
What’s covered: Financial aid packages with no expected family contribution and no loans for students with family income under $75,000.
For students from families earning under $75,000 with typical assets, Cornell says the expected parent contribution is $0. The school offers these families financial aid packages that cover the costs of attendance through grants, scholarships, and work-study, and include no student loans.
The school provides full-tuition scholarships for all students regardless of their financial situation.
Students may also receive need-based financial aid to help cover additional living expenses.
Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire
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Family income cutoff: $175,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for families making under $175,000. Students from families earning under $125,000 with typical assets also receive a zero-parent contribution, loan-free financial aid package.
The college also says financial aid packages for all undergraduates do not include student loans.
Deep Springs College in Deep Springs, California
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Family income cutoff: None
What’s covered: Full tuition, room, and board for all admitted students.
Deep Springs College awards an automatic full scholarship covering tuition, room, and board to all admitted students regardless of financial need or country of origin.
The selective two-year college, which only admits about 14 students each year, relies on an unusual model where students work 20 hours a week on a cattle ranch, doing tasks like milking cows, irrigating the farm, cooking meals, and washing dishes.
Students are still expected to cover the expenses of their books, travel, and medical insurance, as well as a damage deposit, and scholarships are available for students who cannot afford to cover these costs.
Duke University in Durham, North Carolina
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Family income cutoff: $150,000
What’s covered: Full tuition grants for undergraduate students from North Carolina and South Carolina whose families earn $150,000 or less.
For students from the Carolinas with family income of $65,000 or less, Duke also provides financial assistance for covering the costs of housing, meals, and course materials, without student loans.
Emory University in Atlanta
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Family income cutoff: $200,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for undergraduate students from families earning up to $200,000 with typical assets, beginning in fall 2026.
Under the school’s Emory Advantage Plus program, domestic undergraduate students from families earning up to $200,000 with typical assets will pay zero tuition.
Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Harvard University is one of the oldest colleges in the US
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Family income cutoff: $200,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for students from families earning $200,000 or less. Students from families earning $100,000 or less also get the full cost of attendance covered by the school.
Harvard says its undergraduate college is tuition-free for students from families with annual incomes of $200,000 or less. These students may also qualify for financial aid to help cover housing, food, and fees.
Families making under $100,000 receive financial aid packages fully covering all costs of tuition, fees, food, and housing, as well as additional grants to help students during their first and third years.
Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas
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Family income cutoff: None
What’s covered: Full tuition for Native American Indians and Alaska Native students who belong to federally recognized Tribes.
The university lists tuition at $0 for both on-campus and off-campus students.
Students may still pay fees and other costs tied to attendance.
Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
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Family income cutoff: $75,000
What’s covered: Full tuition grants for undergraduate students from families with total income and typical assets under $75,000.
The Lehigh Commitment provides full-tuition grants, scholarships, and tuition waivers to undergraduate students from families with total income of less than $75,000.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts
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Family income cutoff: $200,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for students with family income under $200,000 and typical assets. Many students with family income under $100,000 receive financial aid covering the full cost of attendance.
The school, which prides itself on its need-blind admissions, meets 100% of demonstrated financial need for all undergraduate students, both domestic and international.
Mount Holyoke in South Hadley, Massachusetts
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Family income cutoff: $150,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for US families with total income up to $150,000 and typical assets.
Students with greater financial need also receive aid to cover housing, food, and fees. The college says it meets 100% of the demonstrated financial needs of students.
The school says it works with families individually to create financial aid packages using need-based aid and merit scholarships.
Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois
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Family income cutoff: $150,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for most students from families earning less than $150,000. Students from families earning less than $70,000 receive aid packages covering the full cost of attendance.
The university says it meets 100% of demonstrated financial need without student loans.
Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey
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Family income cutoff: $250,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for most undergraduate families with income up to $250,000. Students from families making under $150,000 receive financial aid covering the full cost of attendance.
Princeton says it does not include student loans in its financial aid packages — which are also available to international students — and that 90% of students graduate debt-free.
Rice University in Houston
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Family income cutoff: $140,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for eligible students from families earning up to $140,000. Families earning less than $75,000 receive aid covering the full cost of tuition, fees, room, and board.
Families earning between $140,000 and $200,000 may also receive aid covering at least half of tuition.
The school says it meets 100% of demonstrated financial need.
Stanford University in Stanford, California
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Family income cutoff: $150,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for students whose parents earn less than $150,000 with typical assets. Families earning under $100,000 also receive aid covering the cost of room and board.
The university says that families with total annual income below $100,000 and typical assets generally have no expected parent contribution toward educational costs.
In most financial aid packages, expected student contributions total $5,000, including $1,500 from summer earnings and $3,500 from part-time work, which can be covered with 8 to 10 hours of on-campus work a week.
Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
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Family income cutoff: $100,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for eligible Texas residents whose family income and assets are less than $100,000.
The school also froze its undergraduate tuition and fees for the 2026-27 school year, extending a record it has kept since 2021, when it last raised tuition prices.
Tufts University in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts
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Family income cutoff: $150,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for US undergraduates from families earning less than $150,000, beginning with students entering in fall 2026.
Tufts says students with annual family income under $60,000 typically receive financial aid packages with no student loans and that the school covers 100% of all students’ demonstrated need.
The University of California system in California
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Family income cutoff: $100,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for most California families earning up to $100,000.
Under the University of California system’s Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan, most California families earning up to $100,000 receive enough grant and scholarship funds to fully cover UC tuition.
Students may still have to pay for housing, food, books, and other costs.
University of Chicago in Chicago
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Family income cutoff: $250,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for students from families earning less than $250,000 with typical assets, beginning in fall 2027.
Beginning in the Autumn Quarter of 2027, undergraduate students from families earning $125,000 or less will also have their tuition, fees, housing, and meals covered.
University of Massachusetts Amherst in Amherst, Massachusetts
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Family income cutoff: $75,000
What’s covered: Tuition and mandatory fees for eligible students with a household adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less.
The school also offers scholarships and grants for students above the family income threshold, depending on financial need.
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Family income cutoff: $125,000
What’s covered: Full undergraduate tuition and mandatory university fees for Michigan residents with family income and assets of $125,000 or less.
Additionally, students receiving free tuition and enrolled in nursing, education, and performing arts programs will also receive further aid covering the full cost of attendance.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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Family income cutoff: $80,000
What’s covered: Out-of-pocket tuition costs and mandatory fees for North Carolina undergraduate students.
UNC-Chapel Hill’s Tar Heel Guarantee covers any out-of-pocket costs for tuition and mandatory fees not covered by other forms of financial aid for North Carolina undergraduates whose families make less than $80,000 a year and have typical assets.
Students may still need to cover housing, food, books, and other costs depending on their financial aid package.
University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia
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Family income cutoff: $200,000
What’s covered: Full tuition through grants and work-study for students from families earning up to $200,000 with typical assets. Families making under $75,000 with typical assets will receive financial aid packages that cover the full cost of attendance.
Penn’s Quaker Commitment guarantees financial aid packages for these students. The school also says it no longer includes a household’s primary home equity in its financial aid calculations.
University of Southern California in Los Angeles
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Family income cutoff: $80,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for first-year students from families earning $80,000 or less with typical assets.
The policy covers tuition, while students may still need aid for housing, food, and other costs.
The University of Texas system in Texas
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Family income cutoff: $100,000
What’s covered: Full tuition and required fees for eligible Texas undergraduates with family adjusted gross income of $100,000 or less.
Separately, UT Austin covers “tuition support” for students with families making up to $125,000 and offers scholarships to offset the cost of on-campus housing for students receiving full tuition aid.
University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia
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Family income cutoff: $100,000
What’s covered: Full tuition and fees for Virginia families earning $100,000 or less with assets below $100,000.
UVA says Virginia families earning $100,000 or less per year with assets below $100,000 receive need-based grants and scholarships equal to at least the cost of tuition and required fees.
Virginia families earning $50,000 or less with assets below $100,000 will receive additional support covering at least the full cost of tuition, required fees, housing, and food.
The school says it also meets 100% of demonstrated financial need for all eligible undergraduate students.
Vanderbilt University in Nashville
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Family income cutoff: $150,000
What’s covered: Full tuition or more for students from households earning less than $150,000.
Students from households with income under $150,000 typically receive awards greater than full tuition, with additional loan-free financial support for housing, food, and other expenses.
The school also says it meets 100% of the demonstrated financial need of all domestic students.
Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina
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Family income cutoff: None
What’s covered: Full tuition for North Carolina undergraduate students who qualify for need-based aid.
The college says loans are not applied toward tuition under the program, though they may be used for food and housing.
Washington University in St. Louis
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Family income cutoff: $75,000
What’s covered: Full tuition, fees, housing, and food for Missouri and southern Illinois students from families making less than $75,000 a year.
What’s covered: Full tuition for all enrolled US citizens and permanent residents.
The school says the scholarship is valued at more than $250,000 over four years.
Webb also offers need-based aid to help with additional attendance costs, which students are still responsible for covering.
Williamson College of the Trades in Media, Pennsylvania
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Family income cutoff: None
What’s covered: Full tuition, room, and board for every student.
Williamson College of the Trades, a three-year men’s college focused on trade education, says every student receives a scholarship that covers the full cost of tuition, room and board, and student fees.
Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut
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Family income cutoff: $200,000
What’s covered: Full tuition for families earning below $200,000. Families earning under $100,000 receive scholarships covering the full cost of attendance.
Eligible students from families making under $100,000 also qualify for hospitalization insurance coverage and an additional $2,000 grant in their first year.
For now, at least, they’re one and the same. Swift confirmed long-simmering speculation this week when she announced her new single for the “Toy Story 5” soundtrack, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” will be released on Friday.
“You knew it! My new original song ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’ for Disney and @Pixar’s @toystory 5 will be yours on June 5th,” Swift wrote on social media, making a nod to her most devoted detectives, who had collected Easter Eggs from across the internet that hinted at the collaboration for months.
“I’ve always dreamed of getting to write for these characters who I’ve adored since I was a 5-year-old kid watching the first Toy Story movie,” Swift continued. “I fell instantly in love with Toy Story 5 when I was lucky enough to see it in its early stages, and I wrote this song as soon as I got home from the screening. Sometimes you just know, right?”
Swift’s admiration for “Toy Story” makes sense not just because she’s a millennial who grew up with the classic movie franchise. The devotion she inspires from her own fan base has a lot in common with that of Woody, Buzz, and the gang. After all, few have proved better at turning sentimental affection into a money-making empire than Pixar.
Swifties inadvertently became Pixar’s promo team — and everybody won
The cast of “Toy Story 5” attends the London premiere.
Kate Green/Getty Images for The Walt Disney Company Limited
It all started in April with paparazzi shots of Swift wearing the “Toy Story” color palette: a blue-and-white dress, yellow bag, and red shoes. It could have easily been a coincidence. But when billboards emblazoned with “TS,” set against the franchise’s iconic cloud background appeared, the Swiftie cipher machine kicked into high gear.
Soon after, a subtle change was made to the “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” cover art on streaming services, swapping the seagulls above Swift’s head for clouds, and Pixar shared a video of “Toy Story” cowgirl Jessie dancing, captioned with paraphrased lyrics from Swift’s hit “Shake It Off” (“She’s making those moves up as she goes!”).
Finally, a countdown appeared on Swift’s website. When it expired, the site refreshed to reveal three “collector’s edition” CDs of the “Toy Story 5” soundtrack, each featuring a different version of Swift’s new song: standard, acoustic, and piano.
It’s a strategy ripped straight from Swift’s favorite promotional playbook. She’s a master at manufacturing a hoopla, whipping her loyal fans into a frenzy while barely lifting a finger, then channeling that anticipation — the realization that, “She was teasing new music! I was right!” — to sell more merchandise.
Naturally, the CDs were only available for two days on Swift’s website, or while supplies lasted. All three sold out within hours.
Swift’s ‘Toy Story’ collaboration furthers her own career narrative
Taylor Swift in a promotional image for “I Knew It, I Knew You.”
Beth Garrabrant
Only Swift could turn a massive franchise like “Toy Story” into her own personal promo vehicle.
“I Knew It, I Knew You” is already being touted as a triumphant “return to country” for Swift, who launched her songwriting career as a teen in the Nashville country scene before pivoting to pop in her 20s. Not-so-coincidentally, “Toy Story 5” will hit theaters on June 19, which is the 20th anniversary of Swift’s debut single, “Tim McGraw.”
Fans are hoping that Swift will rerelease her self-titled debut album to mark its 20th anniversary later this year. Even though she took ownership of all her music last year, rendering the “Taylor’s Version” rerecording project moot, Swift also confirmed that “Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version)” exists, and said she would consider releasing it “when the time is right.”
The original tracks on “Taylor Swift,” some written solely by Swift, were conceived back when she was a curly-haired tween grappling with all the classic growing pains: crushes, cliques, feeling like an outcast, dreaming of a bigger world. What better way to build hype for Swift’s walk down memory lane than by teaming up with “Toy Story,” a franchise that epitomizes childhood wonder, millennial nostalgia — and masterfully leverages both to make a profit?
Both Swift and ‘Toy Story’ expertly turn fans into consumers
Taylor Swift performs “Fearless” during the Eras Tour in Amsterdam.
Aldara Zarraoa/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
Both Swift and the minds behind “Toy Story” endeared themselves to audiences through true creative genius — crafting sincere, moving, original works that appeal to a wide age range. Swift’s earliest releases, including 2006’s “Taylor Swift” and 2008’s “Fearless,” received widespread acclaim and ushered in a new era of confessional songwriting. Similarly, 1995’s “Toy Story” and 1999’s “Toy Story 2” were so successful that they changed how animated movies were made and how they were appraised by critics.
Monoculture is inextricably tied to consumerism, because it matters where people spend their money. Neither Swift nor the minds behind “Toy Story” relied on creative output alone; they built wildly popular brands over decades through commercial savvy. In short, both are very good at getting fans to buy stuff.
Swift’s volume of physical sales is unparalleled in the music industry. She uses every Billboard-approved tactic in the book to push vinyls and CDs, turning fans — of all ages, as long as they have money to burn or parents to persuade — into ravenous archivists and collectors. As one Swiftie in her 50s told me, “There’s something about Taylor, being her fan, that just makes me uncharacteristically acquisitive.”
Meanwhile, “Toy Story” is a series that literally revolves around physical products. The beloved characters, from Woody and Buzz to Jessie and Bullseye, are all the more appealing to kids because they exist in the real world, trapped in plastic boxes, begging to be freed and handled and played with and loved.
Together, Swift and “Toy Story” are the perfect storm of mass consumer appeal. It’s a wonder we haven’t already gotten “You’ve Got a Friend in Me (Taylor’s Version)” — but if there’s anything both brands have taught us, it’s that there’s always a chance it will end up on the soundtrack’s deluxe edition.