2008 Woodie Awards
Changes mark the Class of '10
By: Matthew Stone, Editor in Chief
Issue date: 9/15/06 Section: News
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A lower percentage of students with financial need, a marked jump in the number of athletes, and a greater percentage of students of color have set this fall's first-year class apart from others in recent memory.
The class of 2010 is the first to have been admitted under the college's new need-aware admissions system, through which admissions officers considered applicants' ability to pay tuition in making their acceptance decisions.
As a result, 66.9 percent of this fall's 501 first-year students received need-based aid awards, down from 70.1 percent in the class of 2009 and 70 percent in the class of 2008.
"It's clearly a bit of a decrease," said Lorne Robinson, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid.
The switch to need-aware admissions followed a contentious debate in the fall of 2004 that pitted administrators against a group of students who organized against the change. Students alleged that the college was abandoning its commitment to access to low-income students. Administrators held that the college could not afford to continue admitting students on a need-blind basis.
The Board of Trustees voted in favor of the change in January 2005.
Ability to pay tuition was a consideration in approximately five percent of admissions decisions for the first-year class, Robinson said. That factor came into play only in the final round of deliberations as the admissions committee molded the class to its desired profile.
"As we're zeroing in on that, we also had to watch the financial aid budget and tailor to that," Robinson said.
The college budgeted $25.1 million for financial aid this year with approximately $7 million designated for incoming students. The average need-based award for domestic first-years, $25,653, covered 66 percent of the $39,020 comprehensive cost. Awards for last year's domestic freshmen averaged $23,862, or nearly 65 percent of the comprehensive cost, then $36,500, financial aid documents show.
The class of 2010 is the first to have been admitted under the college's new need-aware admissions system, through which admissions officers considered applicants' ability to pay tuition in making their acceptance decisions.
As a result, 66.9 percent of this fall's 501 first-year students received need-based aid awards, down from 70.1 percent in the class of 2009 and 70 percent in the class of 2008.
"It's clearly a bit of a decrease," said Lorne Robinson, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid.
The switch to need-aware admissions followed a contentious debate in the fall of 2004 that pitted administrators against a group of students who organized against the change. Students alleged that the college was abandoning its commitment to access to low-income students. Administrators held that the college could not afford to continue admitting students on a need-blind basis.
The Board of Trustees voted in favor of the change in January 2005.
Ability to pay tuition was a consideration in approximately five percent of admissions decisions for the first-year class, Robinson said. That factor came into play only in the final round of deliberations as the admissions committee molded the class to its desired profile.
"As we're zeroing in on that, we also had to watch the financial aid budget and tailor to that," Robinson said.
The college budgeted $25.1 million for financial aid this year with approximately $7 million designated for incoming students. The average need-based award for domestic first-years, $25,653, covered 66 percent of the $39,020 comprehensive cost. Awards for last year's domestic freshmen averaged $23,862, or nearly 65 percent of the comprehensive cost, then $36,500, financial aid documents show.
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