Strings attached? How aid affects life at the College and beyond Is it enough?

Author: Mary Lane and Derek Schlickeisen

For some aspiring college students, the long process of applications and anticipation ends the day the coveted "fat envelope" arrives.

Yet for others, getting in does not matter quite as much as getting enough - financial aid, that is. For 41 percent of students here at the College (soon to be 43 percent), the question of financial aid was one they discussed with Kim Downs and her associates in the Student Financial Services office, which she directs. While Emma Willard may be the public face of Middlebury's admissions, the folks in Meeker House are tasked with making what has become one of the most expensive colleges in the country affordable for those admitted. Their decisions, The Campus found, offer students in need not only a path to higher education, but also a series of challenges along the way.

As the College and its peer schools work quickly to beef up their financial aid packages, need across the nation is rising, whether from the recent economic downturn or from the increase in the socio-economic diversity of the College's applicant pool. Our spread this week examines both the administrative and the student life sides of the financial aid question.

Chances are that if you do not receive financial aid, one or more of your close friends does: with one of the nation's highest costs of attendance, the College offers some form of financial assistance to nearly half of its students. With aid taking on an increasingly prominent role in the College's fundraising, Middlebury certainly hopes that better aid offers will draw students to the College.

But how will it impact their lives once they get here?

Alexandra Fisher '10, a French and Environmental Studies double major, saw the financial aid package she receives from Middlebury impact her decision to study abroad. "I was thinking of going to Madagascar, but you can't use Middlebury financial aid for non-Middlebury programs abroad," explained Fisher, whose total aid each year comes to $27,110, including an $18, 360 grant from the College.

Having already taken out a $4,000 Federal Perkins Loan, Fisher was ultimately unable to study in Madagascar. "I decided on France because there's a Middlebury program there," she said. "I would have had to take out more loans to do the program in Africa, so I didn't go."

Fisher's family is expected to cover approximately $25,000 of her tuition during each of her four years at Middlebury. The Perkins Loan will not be sufficient to cover all of her costs, she estimates. "For the next two years it's most likely that I'm going to have to take out more substantial loans on my own that are not part of the College's aid," she said.

In accordance with the College's policy, all academic and merit scholarship money Fisher received did not go towards reducing the contribution she and her family must make. "I received a total of $3,450 in scholarships, including a $2,500 National Merit Scholarship," Fisher said. "It didn't affect the amount of money my family had to pay but it was subtracted from the grant aid I received from Middlebury."

According to Director of Student Financial Services Kim Downs, the College's policy in all situations like Fisher's in which students receive outside aid, such as scholarships and merit grants, is to "replace the self-help component­ - loan and work - of an institutional award." Downs explained that, "Because Middlebury College meets full need, any 'outside' funding received by the student must be considered in the aid award."

Fisher's family will be receiving more aid from Middlebury next year, however, as her brother will be starting Penn State University in fall 2008.

Downs emphasized the importance of families such as Fisher's notifying the school of financial changes times, as the College evaluates students' circumstances each year in order to adjust aid packages.

"If something changes, for example a parent is laid off, someone is injured, etc., then we look at that and adjust accordingly," she said. "We tell students we want to hear about that and take that into account."

When deciding what college to attend, Fisher preferred Middlebury from the start, despite its giving her the smallest aid package. "Pomona, Bucknell and Colby all gave me more aid, but I wanted to go here, much to the dismay of my parents," Fisher said, citing the higher rankings of Pomona and Middlebury as factors separating them from Bucknell and Colby. "I definitely wanted to go to Middlebury all along, because it has such a good and established Environmental Studies program," Fisher said. "It's the oldest one out there."

Although her financial situation at Middlebury did not affect her choice of majors, the need to pay back her loans is a factor in Fisher's plans beyond commencement. "I'm going to have to get a job right away rather than going into the Peace Corps or law school, which is what I want to do." Fisher said. "I haven't really thought about what kind of job I'm going to get, I'm just hoping everything is going to work itself out."

Zachary Bills '11 does not qualify for financial aid, but receives no help from his parents in paying for his Middlebury education. "My tuition is paid for by my uncle, which is about $22,000 each year," he said.

Bills parents paid for his private middle and secondary school education, telling him he was on his own for college. "My father had the attitude that he didn't receive any help from his parents and so he had no problem cutting me loose for college," Bills explained. "I pay $2,960 of my own money each semester for room and board," he said. "I haven't had to take out a loan yet because I worked all summer and devoted my life savings and funds to pay for Middlebury."

"The school doesn't have any obligation to help me out," Bills acknowledged of his difficult circumstance. "Yes, I'm going to come out of school with a lot of debt but I'm invested in my education and it will pay back for itself tenfold."

Bills sees his financial circumstances as motivation for his academics at Middlebury, particularly his study of Chinese. "I'm planning on doing something profitable, obviously, because I need to pay off my college debt," he said. "I'm not taking Chinese to work for a volunteer program and teach kids to speak English. I'm going with Chinese because I can use it for a lucrative career."

Like Fisher, such a payoff after graduation was Bills' reason for attending Middlebury in spite of his lack of financial assistance in avoiding post-graduation debt. "I'm at Midd because they have the best language programs in the world, and it will give me that extra edge in the market," he said.

Stephanie Ellis '08, was offered financial aid in the form of a work-study program when she applied in 2003, but later turned it down. "They gave me a work-study offer which they estimated would turn out $1,200 a year," she said of the program which would have made her eligible for on-campus jobs open only to work-study students. "They suggested I use it to pay for the $1,000-1,200 of projected personal expenses each year."

Although she initially planned to do the program, Ellis soon changed her mind at the advice of her father. "My dad said, 'What's $1,200 compared to what we have to pay anyways?'" Ellis said. "He said he'd rather have me take advantage of other college experiences than be tied down to work-study."