The University made significant strides in improving financial aid when it eliminated the work-study requirement for first-years in 2002, but the policy leaves upperclassmen with a perceived drop in their scholarship packages.
"University scholarships for freshmen would normally be higher simply because their packages have no work component, and they get the University Work Scholarship as part of their first award," said James Tilton, director of financial aid. The University Work Scholarship, worth $2,350 this year, exempts first-years from work-study.
As of late February, the average University scholarship for first-years on financial aid was $24,929. The sophomore average was $22,540. The average for juniors was lower at $20,900, and the average for seniors was $21,411.
Upperclassmen have access to higher annual federal loan maximums, according to Tilton. Consequently the loan components of financial aid packages increase slightly for juniors and seniors.
Tilton said the proportion of students who get need-based University scholarships stays relatively stable across classes. "It's roughly 40 percent for all classes. The freshman class may be slightly higher, but the rest average out at around 40 percent, and that's students who get need-based University scholarship. There are more students who receive federal aid loans," he said.
A Herald poll conducted last year found that 36.9 percent of students on financial aid were very or somewhat dissatisfied with their aid packages. The poll was administered to 461 undergraduates in the registrar's office from Jan. 30, 2006 to Feb. 3, 2006. The margin of error for financial aid questions was 7.3 percent.
Students interviewed by The Herald said reductions in University scholarships were a leading source of dissatisfaction with financial aid at Brown.
"It's enticing applicants with one thing and then dropping it later on," said Gordon Arata '09. "You sort of expect that what you get your freshman year is what you are going to get for the duration."
"Financial aid is always a big issue for the majority of applicants, and it is kind of deceiving, but I'm pretty sure a lot of schools do the same thing in competing for students," said Sevita Qarshi '10.
"Students have to get jobs on campus. Sometimes that's stressful with the amount of schoolwork and other activities that they have to do," said Lindsay Kahn '09.
Students expressed a variety of views on how financial aid at Brown compares with financial aid at other college and universities.
"As far as I know we're doing alright, given our endowment," said James Stout '09. "I didn't get as much financial aid as my brother did going to Yale, but it's a richer school."
"I'm going to have to say it's kind of mediocre," Qarshi said. "I really don't remember the offers from other private schools I applied to, but the public schools were very generous."
In a more recent Herald poll, 35 percent of respondents identified financial aid as the most pressing on-campus need for improvement. The poll was conducted from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2 and has a margin of error of 4.7 percent with 95 percent confidence.
Some students interviewed by The Herald said improving financial aid should take precedence over other priorities. "I think it is a pressing need," said Lisa Blunt '08.5. "Brown is getting all of this money - a lot of it should be going toward financial aid."
Other students said Brown should focus primarily on other concerns. Jonathan Sung '10 said that while aid is important, it is "definitely not the most important thing. I think the University has other issues to worry about."
"Financial aid is a big priority, but I don't think it's necessarily true that we should just pool all of our money into financial aid," Stout said.
