Author: Damian Mendieta
As the nation’s economic woes persist, an increasing number of liberal arts colleges are leaving a need-blind financial aid approach and opting to go need-aware. Rumors have sprung up among the student body concerning the Board of Trustees’s implementation of a new financial aid policy, but Director of Financial Aid Maureen McRae dispelled that speculation.
“I’m often at Trustees meetings, but I was not at that one,” McRae said. “I have not been told of any change in Financial Aid policy, and I’m the one who implements it with every new class and continues it on with every continuing class.”
In light of the false rumors, Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid Vince Cuseo guaranteed that the College will continue to meet the full demonstrated need of students, which Cuseo explained, is unlike other colleges.
“[Other colleges and universities] are going to admit you, but you’ll need to come up with money that’s above and beyond your demonstrated need,” Cuseo said.
McRae confirmed that Occidental has been a need-aware institution for all of the 15 years that she has worked for the college. “When you see that in the national press about schools going need-blind or need-aware, Oxy has been a need-aware school for a very long time,” McRae said.
Thanks partially to pressure from Former Vice-President for Admissions and Financial Aid, Bill Tingley, the College has maintained a need-aware financial aid policy since 1997. Cuseo affirmed that Occidental will continue to uphold their previous stance on meeting student need. “However, in order to meet the [financial] responsibilities of the college, we cannot admit students without an eye towards how much it may cost us within financial aid guidelines,” Cuseo noted.
Cuseo highlighted Occidental’s commitment to meeting full demonstrated need by noting the diversity within the student population despite having a need-aware policy. “We have fairly significant financial aid resources, and we have invested our financial aid resources, I think, well to enroll one of the most diverse classes not just racially and ethnically, but also socioeconomically as just about any elite, private, pricey liberal arts college,” Cuseo said.
Upon submitting their application to Occidental, prospective students undergo two rounds of admissions review. In the first round acceptance is based solely on merit, according to Cuseo. The next admissions step, also known as the committee round, reviews students who are neither denied nor accepted in the first round.
“When you get to the committee round, that’s where the really difficult decisions are rendered,” Cuseo said. “One of the elements may be taking into consideration how much financial need the students have at that point and that’s where need-sensitivity comes into play.”
Wesleyan University and Grinnell College, two need-blind liberal arts institutions, have begun to rethink how they approach financial aid. Earlier this summer, Wesleyan President Michael Roth announced a shift away from need-blind financial aid, despite greater endowments than comparable private liberal arts colleges. Both institutions maintain greater endowments than Occidental’s; Wesleyan with $605 million and Grinnell holding a $1.5 billion fund compared to Occidental’s $330 million.
According to Cuseo, economic strains have affected families’ capacity to pay for a college education, thus prompting even amply funded institutions to reconsider their need-blind policies. “Tuition overall costs have gone up in a manner that has outstripped the annual resources that families have been able to accrue over time,” Cuseo said, speaking with experience stemming from his six years as Grinnell College’s Director of Admissions. “[That’s] why Wesleyan or Grinnell, which are deeply endowed, may in fact now need to change their financial aid policies because it’s no longer sustainable to be completely need-blind in the process.”
Despite the economic downturn and a lack of a need-blind policy, McRae highlighted the high number of Pell Grant recipients who attend Occidental. “We are, I believe, in the top three or four percent in the the top 50 private, selective liberal arts colleges with highest Pell Grant numbers,” McRae said. “We serve more low-income students than most schools that compete with Occidental. If you look at a place like an Ivy school like a Harvard, they’re looking at nine percent, 10 percent and Oxy is twice that in the Pell breakdown.”
Cuseo emphasized that the College’s commitment to meet full demonstrated need of all admitted students is a significant factor to financial aid, but it is not the deciding factor for admittance. “The merit element matters most to us,” Cuseo said about the admissions review process.
“Ten percent of the total applicant pool may be affected by need sensitivity,” Cuseo said “More families actually qualify for some form of financial assistance, therefore it’s a growing percentage of applicants for whom the need sensitivity may need to be applied.”
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