the top 50 of US News & World Report’s rankings are pro - viding non-need-based or ‘merit’ aid,” Post-Lundquist says. “At some of our peers 30% of financial aid is non-need- based, while at Skidmore just 1% of our aid is.” In today’s admissions and aid race, she reports, “Parents tell us about the packages that other colleges are offering them and ask us what we can do. Or they tell us their child was admitted to a very selective
“PARENTS TELL US ABOUT OTHER COLLEGES’ OFFERS, AND EXPECT SOME ‘MERIT’ AID FROM US TO SWEETEN THE POT.”
elite school, so they expect some ‘merit’ aid from us to sweeten the pot.” With its emphasis on access and affordability, Skidmore has stood firm on restricting its non-need aid to the long- standing Filene Music and Porter Presidential Math and Sci- ence scholarships for about 12 incoming students each year. In reconfirming this pol icy at last Octo- ber’s trustee meeting, Skidmore leaders agreed to accept the price: losing some top applicants who get wooed elsewhere with ‘merit aid’ offers. “The bigger price,” says Glotz bach, “would be turning our back on the prin- ciple that a Skidmore education should be available to qualified students regardless of their abil ity to pay. Arguably, every non-need-based dollar we offer takes away from what we can provide to those who truly need it. If we expect to graduate students who are ethi- cal and who value the common good, then Skidmore has to model this kind of behavior.”
These days, even the most elite and highly resourced schools are feeling squeezed, according to a recent New York
Times article on aid and diversty. Wesleyan had been “need- blind”—admitting students without regard to their ability to pay, because it knew it could meet their need—but it has backed off slightly, now accepting 10% of its freshman class- es from candidates who can pay full fare. Another well-funded college, Grinnell, is also considering becoming “need-sensi- tive.” Williams and Dartmouth, which had provided their aid exclusively through
MARY LOU BATES AND HER ADMISSIONS STAFF REALLY DO LOVE OPENING DOORS.
grants, are beginning to include student loans as part of their packages. There’s no escaping the math. “Skidmore’s current oper- ating budget is predicated on 42% of our students receiving aid,” Bates notes, “yet 68% of our applicants requested it.” Earnings from the en- dowment provided nearly 20% of the fi- nancial aid budget in 2003–04, but after the down markets in recent years, that figure has fallen below 12%. Little wonder that Skidmore too is becoming more need-sensitive; Bates now estimates that the College accepts 25% of each incoming class with some considera- tion for the families’ ability to pay on their own. “We’ve wanted to build our applicant pool in part to build
the number and strength of those who don’t need aid,” she acknowledges, so this year’s big spike in applications was gratifying on several levels.
Price vs. value
Jerome Mopsik came to Skidmore as a transfer student, able to make the move thanks to an aid package that included
g 19.1% 15.6% 77.7% 2009 6.7% 13.5% 78.1% 2010 19.9% 8.4% 13.4% 79.0% 2011 21.3% 7.6% 13.3% 79.8% 2012 21.1% 7.0% 11.6% 82.5% 21.7% 6.9%
2013 SPRING 2013 SCOPE 15
GLENN DAVENPORT
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