The number of students confident in their or their family's ability to finance their Brown education increased significantly since last semester, according to a recent Herald poll.
The poll found that 68.8 percent of applicants felt "very confident" or "somewhat confident" about their ability to fulfill tuition costs, compared to 59.4 percent last semester. A total of 29.0 percent said they were worried and 2.2 percent reported that they did not know or had no answer.
This rise in confidence comes during the second year of new financial aid initiatives approved by the Corporation that include reducing loan amounts for all students on financial aid and eliminating parental contributions for families with income under $60,000 and assets under $100,000, according to the Office of Financial Aid's Web site.
Maintaining these policies and continuing public announcements of the new measures has likely helped to alleviate the concerns of many students, said Director of Financial Aid Jim Tilton.
But some students still have concerns about the level of aid available for students who only partially qualify for aid.
"Changing financial aid to give some students a full ride is great and necessary," said Alicia Maule '11, a Minority Peer Counselor coordinator, "but there are still people who are middle-class" who need more help. Because the recession has increased concerns over affording an education, she said many accepted students choose to attend colleges that offer merit-based scholarships, which Ivy League schools do not award.
Tilton said increased counseling can help families who do not qualify for more aid recognize the options they have outside of direct financial assistance from Brown. "We have made these changes, and it does give families more options," said Tilton. He added that making counseling a priority has been vital in ensuring that families understand the additional resources available to them.
Tilton said this recent increase in confidence may also derive from decisions made "external to Brown." Within the student loan market, the federal government has helped students and families manage loan payment by allowing families to choose various methods for paying the expenses, he said.
Tilton also said families "are cautiously optimistic" after recent indications that the economy is heading in the right direction, further spurring a potential increase in confidence.
"Some of the initial hysteria has worn off in terms of the economy," said Brian Schilder '11, who said his education is financed primarily by parents in "recession-proof jobs." He added that many students may perceive that the economy is getting better, thus raising their confidence.
Christopher Baker '12 said the economy has shown potential for improvement since last semester, and he said he believes that plays a large role in improving student comfort levels about future aid.
Others were not convinced the economy's change can be seen yet. Claire Huang '13, who relies on a combination of financial aid and parental contribution, said that despite general trends that suggest improvement, she still has concerns about the recession's effect on financing her education after her father recently lost his job.
In addition to these already implemented financial aid initiatives, the Corporation announced during its Feb. 27 meeting that there will be a 6.5 percent increase in the undergraduate financial aid budget for the 2010-11 academic year. This will coincide with a 4.5 percent increase in tuition and fees , as reported by the Herald on Mar. 1.
Chris Norris-Leblanc '13, a member of Students for a Democratic Society who is currently on leave, expressed concerns over the prospect of the tuition increase and its effect on an affordable Brown education. In the past, SDS has strongly opposed tuition increases, arguing for a tuition freeze, according to Norris-Leblanc.
"Tuition at Brown should not continue to climb," Norris-Leblanc said. "Brown is trying to become a huge research university, and this is coming at a high cost to undergraduate education." He added that if even one student has to leave because of Brown's choice to expend budgetary money on growth, the projects would not be worth it.
Norris-Leblanc said increasing the financial aid budget while increasing tuition "raises student confidence without really giving more people more money."
The Herald poll was conducted on March 22 and 23 and has a 3.5 percent margin of error with 95 percent confidence. A total of 714 Brown undergraduates completed the poll, which The Herald administered as a written questionnaire to students in the lobby of J. Walter Wilson during the day and in the Sciences Library at night.
