> refers to the well off professional classes or merchant traders.

Class isn't tied to money as much as the US.

For example, I grew up poor (as in eligible for free school meals in the 90s poor) however I was one of the posher kids in the school. Class is fucking hard to explain definitively.

I think usage in the UK can vary a lot. And different people may mean anything from the haute bourgeoisie to something much broader including a majority of the population. Another thing is that obviously class in the UK is a social distinction and includes a lot more than just income or wealth brackets.

Who still can't afford US universities, as UK professionals are (excepting the very top executives, public servants, finance and legal professionals, of whom there are relatively few) paid a lot less than the US equivalent.

UK middle class also includes university lecturers, teachers, various health professionals, graphic designers and so on, most of whom make less than 100k USD/year and some not much more than 50k.

I think I read that US middle class are people who only have to work one job

The beauty of the term middle class is that it can be whatever the writer wants it to be, including leaving it up the reader’s imagination.

In America, we have a classless society and everyone claims to be middle class.

I’m not sure Paul Graham’s use of “middle class” matches the colloquial one here in the UK. The students who are not getting in to Oxbridge because of their background are broadly privately educated.

I don’t think it’s controversial to say that Oxbridge has historically admitted a lot of kids from quite a small group of high cost private schools. The fact they’re adjusting their intake to somewhat reduce that is something to be celebrated.

Unless you’re a very wealthy person with kids at an expensive private school in southern England hoping that they’ll get admitted to Oxbridge, of course.

> I would suspect that the majority of UK middle class students would be eligible for some form of financial aid at US schools

Very unlikely, most financial aid is not available to international students.

But the difference between UK student debt (basically a regressive time limited tax) and the US version of student debt (actual loan that will fuck you up) is key here.

I don't think its possible to have a full student loan from the UK and study abroad the whole time. (you can do a year abroad though)

Merit-based, in a lot of cases certainly. But need-based, you’re there to subsidize the university and not the other way around.

Very few schools give international students any aid.