HUNTER COLLEGE–When CUNY launched the Excelsior Scholarship in 2017 the goal was to give free tuition to students from middle class families. Four hundred sixty eight Hunter students (just under 3 percent of the student body) received the scholarship that year. The median family income for families of Hunter students is $57,500, well under Excelsior’s $110,000 federally adjusted gross family income threshold. Despite the obvious draw of graduating debt-free, some students are discourage from applying. Here, Hunter journalism student Lucien Formichella tells the story of how conflicting information caused one student to miss his opportunity to qualify.