The committee on financial aid will recommend the University alter its current policies and offer need-blind financial aid to international students and transfers, said Susan Harvey, the committee co-chair and a professor of religious studies. Harvey made the announcement at an open forum about financial aid jointly hosted by the committee and the Undergraduate Council of Students last night. The committee, created to orient the long-term goals of President Christina Paxson, will present its report to Paxson and Provost Mark Schlissel P'15 early next year.
The committee "will say that a major recommendation of ours is that Brown be need-blind admissions for everybody," Harvey said.
Several international students in attendance raised concerns about their current financial aid process, which does not allow them to reapply for aid if they do not choose to do so when they apply for admission.
Attendees also discussed eliminating loans from financial aid packages and the high tuition rates at universities across the nation. Work-study and the overall difficulty students face when balancing academics, extracurricular activities and employment, were also among the issues discussed.
Undergraduate Finance Board Vice Chair Daniel Pipkin '14 raised the issue of cost breakdowns in financial aid packages, saying that they do not always fully cover all of the costs incurred by Brown students. He cited summer storage costs as an example.
The forum also discussed the need for student input in the process of changing financial aid policies.
"We need to hear from students," said Jon Vu '15, a student representative on the committee. Many committee members agreed that individual student stories can be effective in changing financial aid policies.
"Stories are very powerful," said Dean of Admission Jim Miller '73. "Statistics are one thing, but you all just came out of a presidential election, and the best candidate had the best stories."
The committee will meet with Paxson Dec. 14 to begin the process of submitting their recommendations for financial aid changes, Harvey said. "This is not the end of the process," she added.
Though members did not offer a definitive date, the committee plans to submit a preliminary report to Paxson and Schlissel "sometime in January or February," Harvey said. The report will then be presented at the February 2013 Corporation meeting and undergo revisions before being presented again at the Corporation's May meeting.
