Like Top Universities, Choate Provides a Spectrum of Aid
By Rebecca Han ’10
News Staff Reporter
In the past, financial aid at Harvard University has followed a need-blind policy to provide all students with a chance to attend the college “on the basis of their scholastic achievements and other talents, not their ability to pay tuition,” according to the university’s website. Recently, Harvard introduced a new financial aid package, geared towards helping more middle class applicants afford the tuition, which for the 2007-2008 school year ranges between $48,550 and $50,950, inclusive of billed costs. According to a December 2007 article in The Harvard Crimson, “families who earn between $120,000 and $180,000—‘middle-income’ families—will only have to pay 10 percent of their income as tuition starting next year.” Dean of Admissions William Fitzsimmons said that “families making between $60,000 and $200,000 find themselves in a ‘real state of crisis’…as they are neither poor enough to receive exemption from tuition fees nor are they rich enough to absorb the high costs.” Harvard hopes to encourage more applicants with this new policy, as the cost factor will play a smaller role in deciding where children in middle class families apply and eventually matriculate.
A Trend Among Colleges
Yale reacted to Harvard’s new aid policy by initiating a similar plan of its own, according to the December Crimson article. In a January 14 article in The Hartford Courant announced that Yale plans to eliminate the need for families earning up to $200,000 a year to take out loans. In addition, Yale will triple current financial aid money to $80 million a year. Families making between $60,000 to $120,000 a year will only have to contribute ten percent of their income towards tuition. Other institutions are beginning to address the issue of middle-income aid as well. A September 2007 article in The Tech, MIT’s newspaper, reported that “A common misconception is that financial aid is only for the poor.” Stanford has also changed its admission policy regarding financial aid as well as reevaluating the needs of middle- to upper-middle-class families. The Daily Princetonian, in a December 2007 article, highlighted the similarities between Princeton’s financial aid policy and Harvard’s. Robin Moscato, Director of Undergraduate Financial Aid at Princeton, said in the article that she is glad “to see Harvard joining us on [the decision to replace loans with grants and stop using home equity to calculate financial aid].” In instituting such changes, colleges are competing for the many students who must compare financial aid packages when making their final college decisions. College counselor Wade Boggs, in a December 2007 Yale Daily News article, noted that “there’s no doubt that if schools want to compete for the best students…they’ve got to be competitive in every area, and that certainly includes financial resources.”
Choate Aid Suits Many Needs
Here at Choate, a variety of scholarship programs are offered, with the aim of attracting a wide range of applicants. “We are committed to balancing variety here at Choate,” said Mr. Ray Diffley, Director of Admissions. “We have excellence in all endeavors.” The Gakio-Walton Scholarship program seeks strong students in specific parts of Africa, India, the Middle East, and the United States, according to the Choate website. The Henry G. Stifel III Scholarship program serves to recruit disabled students, and the Glendorn Scholarship targets students with a passion for science. A Wallingford Scholarship program benefits students from Wallingford, as Choate looks not only internationally but also towards home.
Despite the range of its scholarship programs, Choate’s ability to offer more extensive financial aid is limited by the size of its endowment. Mr. Patrick Dennehy, Associate Director of Admissions, reported that Exeter recently accumulated one billion dollars, and Andover is second with eight-hundred million dollars. In comparison, Choate has an endowment of $267 million. Mr. Diffley explained that Choate lacked substantial fund-raising efforts until the 1960’s. “We were late to the fund-raising…less compounded interest, less of an alumni-base to work with,” he said. The school has a remarkable history with major individual donors, including Paul Mellon whose donations funded many of the buildings on campus. Peer schools have not had the benefit of a single major donor and have formed close bonds with their larger alumni networks out of necessity. In comparison to the endowments of Exeter and Andover, Choate’s is low; however, thirty percent of the current student body have their tuition partially or completely paid for by financial aid. At Andover and Exeter, about forty percent of the student body receives some kind of aid. The difference between Choate’s endowment and the percentage of students on financial aid, Mr. Dennehy explained, exists because “Choate puts a much higher percentage of money into its financial aid program.”
An Ever-Expanding Program
With the recent fund-raising campaign, however, Choate is increasing its financial aid. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed and hoping it’ll succeed,” said Mr. Colin Lord, Director of Multicultural Recruitment. “We are continuously researching the cost of living index in certain areas of our country, knowing that it is more expensive to reside in certain areas than others,” said Mr. Noel, Director of Financial Aid. Corrective work is still being applied to the financial aid policies, assimilating and balancing new factors to ensure that the financial aid available is used in the most effective manner. Mr. Dennehy explained Choate’s new efforts simply: “We want to make this place affordable,” he said.
Although some fear that poorer students who require larger financial aid packages may suffer from this trend, at Choate both full and partial scholarships exist to serve a variety of groups.
