Author: Arielle Darr
On Tuesday, Feb. 24, Director of Financial Aid Maureen McRae sent out an email to upperclassmen informing them of new policies concerning off-campus housing and financial aid.
One year ago, Oxy adopted a mandatory two-year residency requirement, requiring first-years and sophomores, beginning with the class of 2012, to live on campus while rising juniors and seniors still had the option of living off-campus.
The biggest change that the e-mail revealed was that beginning in fall 2009, Oxy students who receive need-based financial aid and choose to live off campus will have their financial aid eligibility adjusted to fit the lower living costs found off-campus. This measure is meant to encourage more students to live on-campus.
“Some rising juniors and seniors may perceive the change as limiting their ability to live off campus,” Director of Communications Jim Tranquada said.
The e-mail read, “Given our commitment to a residential campus and the recession’s impact on Occidental’s budget, the College is offering several new financial incentives to encourage next year’s juniors and seniors to take advantage of the on-campus experience.”
These incentives include freezing junior and senior housing and meal plans at the 2009-10 levels (an average savings of $510 which may vary based on room and meal plan type), the creation of Meal Plan D, a plan $480 less than the previous lowest-cost plan that is for light eaters or those who are frequently off campus, and guaranteed on-campus housing with priority for juniors and seniors who participate in Room Draw.
“As it was described to me from the Office of Financial Aid, this decision is only going to affect students who receive aid in excess of tuition, which is a very small number,” senior class Senator Roberto Calderon said, “The truth is, Oxy is under-occupied in terms of the residence halls, but if this strategy is to take place, then the school needs to take rapid measures to increase campus community and events.”
Students can also benefit from the new housing policy in other ways. “The administration is taking steps to make on-campus living more appealing,” Tranquada said. “To start, the College plans to refurbish Norris and Chilcott halls this summer, purchase a floor covering system that will make it possible for concerts and other events to be staged in Rush and Alumni gymnasiums, and has already installed new lighting and electrical systems in Sycamore Glen which will make it easier to hold student events there.”
Attached to the e-mail was the updated Financial Aid Off-Campus Housing Policy that fully explains the process including the new changes. The document discusses how financial aid eligibility is calculated at Oxy. “[It is based] on two major factors: the family expected contribution, as determined by the student’s financial aid application and the cost of attendance (COA).
The COA is determined by all costs associated with attending Occidental for nine months.” With the recent changes, there are three possible COAs that depend on the student’s housing status. These include on-campus, off-campus and with parents. The specific numbers can be seen in the chart to the right.
According to the document, “A student living off-campus may see a reduction in their overall eligibility for financial aid based on the less-expensive options….” This decision was made after the Financial Aid Office looked at the California Student Aid Commission’s Student Expenses and Resources Survey to determine the costs associated with living off-campus.
“The College will continue to meet the full demonstrated need of every student who applies for financial aid,” said Tranquada. “However, the total amount of financial aid will be adjusted to more accurately reflect the average cost of living off campus.”
The policy continued by noting, “Grants and scholarships cannot be used to subsidize off-campus living. If you are living off-campus and your financial aid package includes grants and scholarships in excess of tuition and fees ($38,922), your grants and scholarships will be capped at this figure.” It added that to meet any extra off-campus living expenses, students may be eligible to get an increase in student loans or work award.
While these changes come as a result of many factors, they are primarily meant to promote the fundamental qualities that make Oxy the unique school it is. “Occidental is committed to a philosophy of total education, and maintaining a high percentage of students living on campus is an important means of achieving that goal. In building that kind of intentional community, promoting off-campus living is not part of the College’s mission”, Tranquada said. “Because it is a residential liberal arts college, Occidental owes its students a full residential experience. The more students who live on campus, the easier it becomes to provide that full experience.”
The current economic crises also played a role in the amendment of the housing policy.
“While the College’s belief in the importance of the residential experience in an Oxy education is the chief factor behind the changes, the effects of the recession on the College also played a role. The endowment has lost almost a third of its value, or $100 million,” Tranquada said. “This, together with plunging short-term interest rates and other factors, is why we have taken a number of actions to ensure the financial security of the College during these difficult times, including faculty and staff forgoing raises in 2009-10. By taking such steps now, we hope to avoid the more dramatic actions that already have been taken at Caltech, Wellesley, Dartmouth, and other colleges and universities.”
According to Tranquada this decision was collectively made by Student Affairs, Residence Life & Housing Services, Dining Services, Financial Aid, the Business Office, President Skotheim, the president’s cabinet (the various vice presidents) and the Board of Trustees. While students were not part of making the final decision, student representatives attended board meetings this week sharing reasons students want to live off-campus.
Student feedback has led the college to develop plans that will entice students, through the aforementioned new incentives, to live on-campus. “Trustees and the administration are expected to continue this discussion at the board’s April meeting,” Tranquada said.
“Though it would have been nice to have student input about this change prior to this decision or some sort of heads-up that this would be occurring but once again decisions are made and students are forced to live with it. Hopefully the amount of students impacted is minimal as they say,” Calderon said.
Students planning to live off-campus are being encouraged to meet with members of the financial aid staff to review the new policy and see how it will affect students. “I had a meeting with the financial aid department yesterday. They are offering these meetings to all upperclassmen to discuss how this would affect them individually,” Roxanne Laufer (sophomore) said. “While the amount of financial aid I receive does decrease, I also would save money by living off campus.”
The e-mail also informed students that all parents had been notified of the changes via mail. While this new policy will only affect upperclassmen who choose to live off-campus, the new policy has the potential to impact many students in the upcoming school year and many future ones to come. According to the Oxy website over three quarters of Occidental students received some form of financial aid last year.
“In these difficult economic times, this could affect the decisions of many students, but hopefully they will make it work. Personally, I still want to live off campus but need to talk to my parents about it and figure out my summer job situation first,” Laufer said. “I don’t think the school is doing this to earn some extra cash, they are doing all they can to support me.”
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