Cambridge
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Canes Pugnaces
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Post by Cambridge on Nov 15, 2007 14:05:28 GMT -5
I just received a pair of emails last week.
One from my high school, Phillips Exeter, stating that from now on they will be covering tuition, books, travel and the cost of a laptop/computer for all accepted students whose family earns less than $75,000 a year. Admissions are need blind. Tuition, room and board right now is in the $30K range.
A friend forwarded me an email from Harvard, stating that from now on they will be covering tuition for all families that earn less than $40,000 a year. Admissions are need blind. Tuition, room and board right now is pushing $40K.
These are both amazing programs. Harvard is long overdue in targeting low income families. Exeter has had a long tradition of generous financial aid packages, but has now made a concerted and aggressive move to make prep school possible for average middle income families.
Obviously, Georgetown probably does not have the financial resources right now to provide a similar program, but I feel like this would be an amazing program to target in future capital campaigns.
Any word if other institutions are following suit. Has anyone heard if this is spreading to the rest of the prep schools? Ivy League?
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Jack
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by Jack on Nov 15, 2007 14:21:52 GMT -5
Harvard came out with their program last year and has been pushing financial aid big time for a few years now. Their policy is admirable, but it is also a competitive thing- Princeton was the first school to make such a move and many of the Ivies (and others) have tried to improve their packages.
Georgetown has responded in the best way it can, with something called the Georgetown Scholarship Program, a fundraising effort targeted on annual giving (as opposed to huge endowment gifts) looking to bridge the gap and eliminate loans as much as possible. There are currently close to 300 Georgetown students receiving a GSP grant, a great start but still only a drop in the bucket compared to the 2500 undergrads on financial aid. More info is available at gsp.georgetown.edu
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DanMcQ
Moderator
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Post by DanMcQ on Nov 15, 2007 14:24:23 GMT -5
Cambridge: GU has a unique program that is attempting to bridge the gap using current year funding from donors since the endowment at places like Harvard dwarfs what GU is able to do. My wife and I are among the alums that support it - it was conceived by Charlie Deacon and deserves strong consideration from all alumni. Much more info here: The Georgetown Scholarship ProgramWe attended a recent Boston area reception for the program. While the program has been a success to date, it could use a lot more support and is beginning to allow Georgetown to attract middle and low income candidates who might otherwise go elsewhere (Jack narrowly just beat me to mentioning it here). A great feature of the program (IMO) is that it does not reduce the student's debt to zero - rather, it targets it to $3000 which gives them some ownership over their education.
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Post by hilltopper2000 on Nov 15, 2007 15:21:23 GMT -5
This will be a major effort in the new campaign--to the tune of $500 million. Long term, Georgetown needs to endow the financial aid to compete. A significant endowment, working in tandem with current-use programs like GSP, should allow the university to bridge the gap.
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