Medians are useful summaries. They can also be misleading. The typical program has a gap of $20,750, but the distribution around that median reveals the full scope of the policy's impact. It's strongly right-skewed: most programs have moderate gaps in the $10,000–$35,000 range, but a long tail of high-cost professional programs extends well above $50,000.
Percentile Distribution (Among Programs with Gap > $0)
| Percentile | Annual Funding Gap |
|---|---|
| 10th | $7,285 |
| 25th | $11,926 |
| 50th (Median) | $20,750 |
| 75th | $36,490 |
| 90th | $55,635 |
| 95th | $68,041 |
| 99th | $96,929 |
At the 75th percentile, a program's annual gap reaches $36,490. At the 90th percentile, the gap exceeds $55,000 per year.
Programs Above Key Dollar Thresholds
| Annual Gap Exceeds | Programs | Share of All Programs |
|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | 5,715 | 77.9% |
| $25,000 | 2,902 | 39.6% |
| $50,000 | 934 | 12.7% |
| $75,000 | 244 | 3.3% |
| $100,000 | 59 | 0.8% |
More than three out of four programs have a gap exceeding $10,000. One in eight exceed $50,000. Fifty-nine programs, concentrated in dentistry, medicine, and elite professional schools, exceed $100,000.
Verified Flagship Examples
The following examples are drawn from the 336 universities (3,153 program rows) that were manually spot-checked against official institutional sources: bursar pages, COA PDFs, and registrar fee schedules.
Private University Professional Programs ($50,000 Cap)
| Institution | Program | Annual COA | Cap | Annual Gap | Duration | Total Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYU | Dentistry (DDS) | $155,996 | $50,000 | $105,996 | 4 yr | $423,984 |
| Stanford | Medicine (MD) | $143,557 | $50,000 | $93,557 | 4 yr | $374,228 |
| Columbia | Dentistry (DDS) | $136,216 | $50,000 | $86,216 | 4 yr | $344,864 |
| Penn | Dentistry (DMD) | $135,306 | $50,000 | $85,306 | 3 yr | $255,918 |
| Stanford | Law (JD) | $122,577 | $50,000 | $72,577 | 3 yr | $217,731 |
| Northwestern | Medicine (MD) | $120,375 | $50,000 | $70,375 | 4 yr | $281,500 |
| Columbia | Law (JD) | $118,694 | $50,000 | $68,694 | 3 yr | $206,082 |
| Harvard | Law (JD) | $115,792 | $50,000 | $65,792 | 3 yr | $197,376 |
Private University Graduate Programs ($20,500 Cap)
| Institution | Program | Annual COA | Cap | Annual Gap | Duration | Total Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn | Wharton MBA | $132,404 | $20,500 | $111,904 | 2 yr | $223,808 |
| Columbia | Business (MBA) | $130,954 | $20,500 | $110,454 | 2 yr | $220,908 |
| Stanford | Business (MBA) | $127,728 | $20,500 | $107,228 | 2 yr | $214,456 |
| MIT | Sloan MBA | $126,712 | $20,500 | $106,212 | 2 yr | $212,424 |
| Stanford | Engineering | $106,758 | $20,500 | $86,258 | 2 yr | $172,516 |
Public University — Resident vs Non-Resident
| Institution | Program | Status | Annual COA | Cap | Annual Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | Dentistry (DDS) | Resident | $89,658 | $50,000 | $39,658 |
| Ohio State | Dentistry (DDS) | Non-Resident | $157,252 | $50,000 | $107,252 |
| Michigan | Medicine (MD) | Resident | $87,130 | $50,000 | $37,130 |
| Michigan | Medicine (MD) | Non-Resident | $107,968 | $50,000 | $57,968 |
| UF | Medicine (MD) | Resident | $57,260 | $50,000 | $7,260 |
| UF | Medicine (MD) | Non-Resident | $69,520 | $50,000 | $19,520 |
| Michigan | Ross MBA | Resident | $105,026 | $20,500 | $84,526 |
| Michigan | Ross MBA | Non-Resident | $110,026 | $20,500 | $89,526 |