So they do negotiate!

A week late and several thousand short, but maybe it's the thought that counts.

Just got a notice from Columbia that upon request my grant has been increased, and I would now owe a mere $21,125 per year. Had they started there and talked down a few thousand (or had MIT given me the same offer), I might have done it. As it is, I'm committed to Michigan and they're too late to stop me.

But it does show that even in the ivory tower there is some small niche of compassion.