Spring Break
University financial aid funding stable
by Michelle Liberman
Staff writer
News | 11/25/08
Posted online at 4:22 AM EST on 11/25/08
At a Nov. 6 faculty meeting Reinharz said, "Financial aid is a very complicated issue. Sixty-five percent of students have financial aid, and the average financial aid package is about $25,000."
Peter French, the executive vice president and chief operating officer, said at the faculty meeting, "There's going to be enormous pressure to keep that tuition discount number at [a 35 percent] level," meaning that students who receive financial aid, on average, get a 35-percent discount from the Brandeis tuition.
Amid fears that families will not be able to pay tuition costs even after their financial aid needs are met, French wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that next year's tuition is projected to increase by 4 percent, which is less than the 4.5 percent average increase over the past five years for Brandeis and below the national average increase of 6 percent for private colleges and universities.
Villanueva wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that the tuition increase "will not be received with open arms."
Earlham College President Douglas Bennett reported to The Times that if a college is truly a need-blind institution, they can go broke, because "it is like writing a blank check to the world."
"We are a need blind admission institution," Eddy wrote in an e-mail to the Justice when asked how a prospective student's ability to pay tuition will affect their admission to Brandeis.
Brandeis administrators did not reveal the recent effects on financial aid and did not disclose actual budgetary or financial aid figures.
Kim Thurler, an admissions representative from Tufts University, explained that Tufts practices a need-blind admissions system, but that it is not an established policy of the university.
She wrote in an e-mail to the Justice, "It is necessary to distinguish between policy and practices. … We achieved need-blind practices for the past two years. However a formal need-blind policy has not been adopted by the Board of Trustees, because to date the necessary endowment to ensure its sustainability is not in place."
Peter French, the executive vice president and chief operating officer, said at the faculty meeting, "There's going to be enormous pressure to keep that tuition discount number at [a 35 percent] level," meaning that students who receive financial aid, on average, get a 35-percent discount from the Brandeis tuition.
Amid fears that families will not be able to pay tuition costs even after their financial aid needs are met, French wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that next year's tuition is projected to increase by 4 percent, which is less than the 4.5 percent average increase over the past five years for Brandeis and below the national average increase of 6 percent for private colleges and universities.
Villanueva wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that the tuition increase "will not be received with open arms."
Earlham College President Douglas Bennett reported to The Times that if a college is truly a need-blind institution, they can go broke, because "it is like writing a blank check to the world."
"We are a need blind admission institution," Eddy wrote in an e-mail to the Justice when asked how a prospective student's ability to pay tuition will affect their admission to Brandeis.
Brandeis administrators did not reveal the recent effects on financial aid and did not disclose actual budgetary or financial aid figures.
Kim Thurler, an admissions representative from Tufts University, explained that Tufts practices a need-blind admissions system, but that it is not an established policy of the university.
She wrote in an e-mail to the Justice, "It is necessary to distinguish between policy and practices. … We achieved need-blind practices for the past two years. However a formal need-blind policy has not been adopted by the Board of Trustees, because to date the necessary endowment to ensure its sustainability is not in place."
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