Spring Break
Trustees OK major changes to financial aid
By: David Graham
Issue date: 12/10/07 Section: News
Last update: 12/18/07 at 12:33 AM EST
Last update: 12/18/07 at 12:33 AM EST
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Under the new system, parental contributions to tuition will be eliminated for students with family incomes of less than $60,000 annually. In addition, students with family incomes of $40,000 or less will see loans replaced by grants.
Students from families with incomes between $60,000 and $100,000 will see reductions in loans on a graduated basis, and students above that line will have loans capped at $5,000 per year. The changes will take effect in Fall '08 for all students receiving need-based aid.
"The main thing we're interested in is affordability, making people understand that Duke really is affordable," President Richard Brodhead said at press conference Saturday. "You don't have to be able to pay the price tag to be able to go to Duke."
University officials said the changes are the first fruits of the Financial Aid Initiative, a $300-million push to raise funds that is slated to end in one year. Of the target, $230 million will go toward undergraduate need-based aid. Brodhead said in a statement that the initiative has reached $240 million.
"Duke is one of a handful of universities that's committed to a philosophy of need-blind admission," Brodhead said. "Whatever the family can pay we expect them to pay, and if they can't, Duke helps them along. We've taken these steps to guarantee true affordability going along."
He added that the University will strive to make the changes known to this year's applicant pool. Although Duke does not aim for a particular socioeconomic demographic profile, Brodhead said, the changes may result in greater enrollment for lower-income students.
The new system resembles trumpeted renovations to the financial-aid structures at other elite universities and liberal arts colleges, exceeding some but not going as far as others. The changes do appear to put Duke in the vanguard of a movement to reform financial aid.
Princeton University gained national attention in 2001 when it announced that it would eliminate all loans for students qualifying for need-based aid. Davidson, Amherst and Williams colleges have also eliminated loans.
Harvard University in 2004 abolished family contributions for students with family incomes of less than $60,000. Like Duke, it has not fully eliminated loans.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 20
Doris
posted 12/10/07 @ 9:09 AM EST
As a Duke alum who cares that others receive the quality education available at Duke, I hail this move of the BOT.
However, the alum will be watching carefully to make sure that the standards of admission are not compromised. (Continued…)
Jane
posted 12/10/07 @ 10:58 AM EST
How do poor people threaten admissions quality?
Ernesto
posted 12/10/07 @ 11:39 AM EST
Thanks Jane,
my thoughts exactly. The academic lineage has to start somewhere and in my case, it began with me. No one in the history of my family, with the exception of my elementary school teacher mother, holds any degree higher than high school. (Continued…)
Duke parent
posted 12/10/07 @ 12:25 PM EST
How does enabling more middle class students to afford Duke threaten academic standards? I know several students who were accepted at Duke, Rice, Wash U, Emory, Princeton, Harvard and other very selective schools and who chose not to attend Duke because they would graduate with too much debt. (Continued…)
The Emperor Wears No Clothes
posted 12/10/07 @ 1:11 PM EST
It is appalling to think that Duke is patting itself on its back for these meager changes - they fall far from the mark. The idea that families making $60,000 to $100,000 will get less in loans is preposterous. (Continued…)
J-thon 72
posted 12/10/07 @ 2:24 PM EST
These changes announces are pretty paltry baby steps and we should not forget that 40% of students attending Duke don't receive (or need) financial aid, but I have to say I am so delighted to see the BOT begin to address this issue. (Continued…)
Gary Packwood
posted 12/10/07 @ 2:56 PM EST
IRS
Just a few moments ago Harvard announced that they are also changing their financial aid distribution system.
I would imagine all schools with a tax exempt multi-Billion dollar endowment will be restructuring their financial aid packages for lower income students before the IRS swoops down and does it for them. (Continued…)
Dukie
posted 12/10/07 @ 7:35 PM EST
Now if we can just get rid of those extraordinarily costly fraternities and sororities maybe we'll make more than baby steps. Duke makes it difficult on students who cannot afford the kind of atmosphere that goes with Greek groups and those otherwise uninspired social gatherings where the most important questions are who buys the booze and who will be our entertainment. (Continued…)
Duke Parent and Alum
posted 12/10/07 @ 8:26 PM EST
This is good news for Duke, but sadly, today's WSJ shows that we are one step behing those folks we try to recruit.... quoting from today's WSJ
Dec. 10, 2007
Harvard University sweetened its financial aid for middle-class and upper-middle-class families, responding to criticism that elite colleges have become unaffordable for ordinary Americans. (Continued…)
Screename2000
posted 12/11/07 @ 10:36 PM EST
I wrote an "open letter" to Duke University on the news site plastic.com once (the link is http://www.plastic.com/article.html;sid=03/11/25/16100795#9. (Continued…)
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