Financial aid packages are key in college decisions

By: Julie Pearson
Posted In: National News

As a high school senior, Kaitlyn Sullivan anxiously awaited the arrival of her college acceptance letters or the dreaded denials. She had applied to her dream school, Boston University. When her letter came, she ripped it open, praying for the answer she wanted to hear. To her delight, she was accepted into the Class of 2006 at BU. An equally important letter, however, was her financial aid package from the university. To her disappointment she wasn’t offered enough financial assistance, and was forced to choose from her other acceptances. Sullivan is the oldest of four children in a middle-class home. Salve Regina University became her next top choice, and had offered her more money.

Today she is happy at Salve, but is also very aware of the financial burden on her family. “If it weren’t for my parents working so hard I could never ever have come to Salve. It was the school that gave me the most (financial aid), but still not a lot,” said Sullivan.

Like Sullivan, financial aid plays a large role in the decisions of college students today. According to the National Center for Public Policy in Higher Education, tuition rate increases and slashed state funding have contributed to 250,000 potential students being denied acceptances this past year. The center finds that legislators and governors are using college tuitions as short-term budget fixes.

Aida Mirante, director of financial aid at Salve, acknowledges the hardships students are faced with when paying for college. Tuition at Salve this year was $20,510 plus room and board and miscellaneous fees. These fees cover the cost of books and transportation among others. Salve exercises a “need blind” policy when examining applications for admittance, says Mirante, meaning that a student’s financial profile is never reviewed during the application process. “We don’t look at a student’s financial picture until they are accepted,” the financial aid director said.

Salve gives out over 10 million in aid itself, which doesn’t include thousands of dollars in Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Grants, Perkins Loans, and nursing loans. Students are also awarded $6 million in Stafford loans, and $4 million in parent-based loans. Even with these financial packages, there is not enough financial aid to go around. More and more students in recent years are taking out student-based loans. First-year students are allowed to take out $2,625 that they themselves will pay back.

Mirante finds Salve to be competitive with other private schools in this region of the United States, with room and board rates only a little higher than the nation al average. She also concludes that the rising costs of college tuitions are due to the climbing expenses answering student demands. Demands for better living conditions, technology, and fitness centers all boost the costs of tuition, Mirante says.

Mirante encourages students to get involved in politics in order to better understand what is happening in education and why tuition is so costly. Congress listens to its constituents, especially since federal aid procedures are being voted on for reauthorization for this year. She encourages students to join lobby groups, write to their government officials, and become more familiar with the issues that will directly affect them.

Providence College’s tuition is on the rise and right now is $21,655. Hebert D’Arcy, director of financial aid believes that there simply is not enough federal and state aid available to students.

“The greatest growth element over the last decade is not necessarily academic,” said D’Arcy, who points to dormitory arrangements, technology, recreation facilities, and paying the staff to maintain these areas of colleges as reasons for tuition increase.

Over the past twenty years the expectations of what a college should encompass have changed drastically. According to D’Arcy, Congress is threatening to paralyze colleges and universities with a new proposal of price controls on tuitions. The proposal calls for an acceptable tuition rate to be set for all higher education institutions. Once a college or university surpasses this acceptable rate, it will be viewed as having outrageous and unproportional tuition costs. These propositions are “laughable,” says D’Arcy, as the government considers a national standard of acceptable tuition increases.

Colleges and universities raise tuition rates for the good of the student. With tuition increases, and growing pressure to give all students the opportunity to attend college, colleges and universities are under constant scrutiny. With these price controls, “Only the students will suffer,” said D’Arcy.