手机使用
编辑Colleges taking another look at value of merit-based aid
Good grades and high tests scores still matter—a lot—to many colleges as they award financial aid.
But with low-income students projected to make up an ever-largershare of the college-bound population in coming years, some schools arere-examining whether that aid, typically known as “merit aid”, is the most effective use ofprecious institutional dollars.
George Washington University in Washington, D.C., for example, saidlast week that it would cut the value of its average merit scholarships by aboutone-third and reduce the number of recipients(接受者), pouring the savings, about $2.5 million, into need-based aid.AlleghenyCollegeinMeadville,Pa., made a similar decision three yearsago.
Now,HamiltonCollegeinClinton,N.Y., says it will phase outmerit scholarships altogether. No current merit-aid recipients will lose theirscholarships, but need-based aid alone will be awarded beginning with studentsentering in fall 2008.
Not all colleges offer merit aid; generally, the more selective aschool, the less likely it is to do so. Harvard and Princeton, for example,offer generous need-based packages, but many families who don’t meet need eligibility(资格)have been willing to pay whateverthey must for a big-name school.
For small regional colleges that struggle just to fill seats, meritaid can be an important revenue-builder because many recipients still payenough tuition dollars over and above the scholarship amount to keep theinstitution running.
But for rankings-conscious schools in between, merit aid has servedprimarily as a tool to recruit top students and to improve their academicprofits. “They’re trying to buy students,” says Skidmore College economistSandy Baum.
Studies show merit aid also tends to benefit disproportionately studentswho could afford to enroll without it.
“As we look to the future, we see a more pressing need to invest inneed-based aid,” says MonicaInzer, dean of admission and financial aid at Hamilton, which has offered meritscholarships for 10 years. During that time, it rose in US News & WorldReport’s ranking of the best liberal arts colleges, from 25 to 17.
Merit aid, which benefited about 75 students a year, or about 4% ofits student body, at a cost of about $ 1 million a year, “served us well,” Inzer says, but “to be discounting the price fomilies that don’t needfinancial aid doesn’t feel right any more.”
Need-based aid remains by far the largest share of all student aid,which includes state, federal and institutional grants. But merit aid, offeredprimarily by schools and states, is growing faster, both overall and at theinstitutional level.
Between 1995-96 and 2003-04, institutional merit aid alone increased212%, compared with 47% for need-based grants. At least 15 states also offermerit aid, typically in a bid to enroll top students in the state’s public institutions.
But in recent years, a growing chorus(异口同声)of critics has begun pressuring schools to drop the practice.Recent decisions by Hamilton and others may be “a sign that people are starting to realize that there’s this destructive competitiongoing on,” says Baum,co-author of a recent College Report that raises concerns about the role ofinstitutional aid not based on need.
David Laird, president of the Minnesota Private College Council,says many of his schools would like to reduce their merit aid but fear that indoing so, they would lose top students to their competitors.
“No one can take one-sided action,” says Laird, who is exploring whether to seek an exemption(豁免)from federal anti-trust laws somember colleges can discuss how they could jointly reduce merit aid, “This is a merry-go-round that’s going very fast, and none of theinstitutions believe they can sustain the risks of trying to break away bythemselves.”
A complicating factor is that merit aid has become so popular withmiddle-income families, who don’t qualify for need-based aid, that many have come to depend on it.And, as tuitions continue to increase, the line between merit and need blurs.
That’s one reasonAllegheny College doesn’t plan to drop merit aid entirely.
“We still believe in rewarding superior achievements and know thatthese top students truly value the scholarship,” says Scott Friedhoff, Allegheny’s vice president for enrollment.
Emory University in Atlanta, which boasts a $4.7 billion endowment(捐赠), meanwhile, is taking anotherapproach. This year, it announced it would eliminate loans for needy studentsand cap them for middle-income families. At the same time, it would expand its28-year-old merit program.
“Yeah, we’re playing the merit ,” acknowledges Tom Lancaster, associate dean for undergraduateeducation. But it has its strong point, too, he says. “The fact of the matter is, it’s not just about the lowest-incomepeople. It’s the averageAmerican middle-class family who’s being priced out of the market.”
*A few words about merit-based aid:
Merit-based aid is aid offered to students who achieve excellence ina given area, and is generally known as academic, athletic and artistic meritscholarships.
Academic merit scholarships are based on students’ grades, GPA and overall academicperformance during high school. They are typically meant for students goingstraight to college right after high school. However, there are scholarshipsfor current college students with exceptional grades as well. These meritscholarships usually help students pay tuition bills, and they can be renewedeach year as long as the recipients continue to qualify. In some cases,students may need to be recommended by their school or a teacher as part of thequalification process.
Athletic merit scholarships are meant for students that excel(突出)in sports of any kind, fromfootball to track and field s. Recommendation for these scholarships isrequired, since exceptional athletic performance has to be recognized by acoach or a referee(裁判). Applicants need to send in a tape containing their bestperformance.
Artistic merit scholarships require that applicants excel in a givenartistic area. This generally includes any creative field such as art, design,fashion, music, dance or writing. Applying for artistic merit scholarshipsusually requires that students submit a portfolio(选辑)of some sort, whether thatincludes a collection of artwork, a recording of a musical performance or avideo of them dancing.
1.With more and more low-income students pursuing higher education,a number of colleges are ________.
