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Volume CXXXIII, Number 9 |
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Discrepancies found in federal aid distribution
BETH KOWITT
STAFF WRITER
If you're a senior in high school and plan on attending college with government assistance, you better hope you get into a well-respected and wealthy institution. Not only do elite institutions have larger endowments, but they receive disproportionately large grants from the federal government, according to a recent study done by the New York Times.
The study was based on federal statistics from 4,000 institutions of higher learning that received some sort of government aid. It was found that the average amount of federal aid given to schools in order to run their Perkins loan program in 2000-2001 was $14.38 for every financial aid applicant, but the range in amount from school to school is actually quite significant.
The investigation showed that Stanford, Brown, and Dartmouth all received at least $169.23 to run their Perkins loan program per student who applied for financial aid. Meanwhile, the University of Wisconsin at Madison received $0.21 in aid per applicant and almost 200 colleges were granted less than $3.
Some are beginning to question if it's really fair that Harvard and Yale, which have the largest endowments in the nation at over $10 billion, receive more government aid than schools that cost just as much to attend, have less of an endowment, and more students in need.
Even though the inequality in distribution has always been a point of contention, this is the first time in over 20 years that financial aid officers are demanding a change. They want government aid going to schools that have students with the most need, not schools with the most prominent reputations.
"Funding is, to some degree, a function of history," noted Dean James Miller of Admissions and Financial Aid at Bowdoin, saying that when the government set up these programs, colleges in the northeast jumped at the chance to join. Later, when more schools were added to the programs, the original participants were guaranteed that they would continue to receive the same amount of aid that they always had.
Even though Bowdoin has been participating in these programs since the beginning, exactly where the College fits into the picture is questionable, though Dean Miller said, "Within the private college realm, we're probably about average."
"There's $14.5 million this year in direct scholarship aid to current students," said Dean Miller. Associate Director of Student Aid Gary Weaver also said that 730 students currently receive need-based financial aid from Bowdoin, including some amount of grant aid.
According to Mr. Weaver, the breakdown for loans and work study at Bowdoin for all students is $864,000 in federal work study job offers, $140,635 in Bowdoin-funded job offers, $1.2 million in Perkins loans, $2.269 million in Stafford loans, $285,000 in consolidated loans, and $2.764 million in PLUS (parent loans).
The vast majority of the dollars that students are receiving are from Bowdoin.
"More than nine out of ten dollars comes from Bowdoin," said Dean Miller. "We're not living off of federal money."
The answer to the problem for schools receiving minimal government aid still remains an issue, though Dean Miller believes that the simple solution would be to put "more money in the pipeline for all colleges."
It seems, however, that this resolution is not going to arise anytime soon and that redistribution, which could lead to some conflicts, is being considered. Bowdoin could lose $50,000 to $100,000 in the process, which Dean Miller says is "not horrific but not inconsequential."
Redistribution would have significant repercussions for the state of Maine.
"It would be a pretty big loss if the allocations went through," said Miller.
Peggy Crawford, Director of Financial Aid and Inquiries at the University of Maine at Orono, was unavailable for comment.
Some concern has been raised over not just the implications for students, but also over the relationship between schools. "We're all funding students who have need," said Dean Miller, "and we're going to end up pitting schools against one another."
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