Northwestern might see more financial aid requests next year, but two new programs announced Spring Quarter should help students in need, administrators said.
"People are definitely anxious and concerned with what is going on with the economy," said Michael Mills, associate provost for university enrollment. "I wouldn't doubt that we'll see a big spike in the number of families that apply for financial aid."
Not only will more incoming freshmen be applying for financial aid, but Mills said there will probably be an increase in current students seeking aid. Though Mills said he doesn't have concrete data, the effect of the faltering economy will be apparent soon with this year's early decision applicant pool, he said.
"My gut tells me Northwestern continuing students who hadn't applied for financial aid before will be suddenly applying for it," he said.
NU introduced two new financial aid programs this year, both designed to reduce the amount of student debt undergraduates carry, Mills said.
The No-Loan program, or Pledge Scholarship, was given to 472 undergraduates this academic year, enabling them to graduate without any student loans. NU also capped federal Stafford and Perkins loans at $20,000 dollars.
While undergraduates at any level were eligible for a Pledge Scholarship, the loan cap program is mainly reserved for seniors, said Mills.
"(Some) seniors have hit or will hit the $20,000 mark in loans this academic year," Mills said. "So we took their loans away and replaced them with Northwestern scholarships."
Mills said the goal of the new financial aid programs is to increase the number of students receiving aid and reduce the debt students owe after graduating.
"They are going to make NU more affordable, while enabling hundreds of undergraduates to not be as concerned about the student debts they are racking up," Mills said.
Some NU students say they are already seeing the effects of the new financial aid program.
"Out of all the colleges I considered, Northwestern gave me the best financial aid package," said Medill freshman Fenit Nirappil. "I come from a single-parent household, so the amount of financial aid I received was the ultimate deciding factor."
Out of this year's incoming freshmen, 55 percent applied for financial aid. Two-thirds of those students received financial aid, Mills said.
Sophomore Lyberti Nelson has student loans and said she thinks capping loans at a certain dollar amount is especially helpful for upperclassmen.
"Even when you are on financial aid and taking out loans, you are always thinking about the money you will owe after graduating," Nelson said. "Along with avoiding getting into hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, capping a loan allows students to truly focus on their education and not worry about paying for it."
Mills said taking some of the financial stress off of students will allow them to major in areas they are passionate about instead of areas which will lead to financial success upon graduation.
"At some schools, students tend to make choices of what to study and do with their lives based on concern over repaying loans," Mills said. "We did not have any evidence of this happening at Northwestern, but if it were, these two programs would make it less likely."
With about 590 students involved in these two financial aid programs, Mills said NU estimates 20 percent of undergraduates will benefit from these scholarships within four years.
He said hopefully the increase in aid will help students go to the college of their choice despite rising tuition costs and harder economic times. He said NU is also trying to make sure prospective families don't "write-off" NU in favor of "an in-state tuition at a good, flagship public school."
"We don't want them to make that decision without having evaluated what kind of financial aid they could qualify for," Mills said.
laurenmogannam2007@u.northwestern.edu
Be the first to comment on this article!