Economy May be Hurting Colleges, But They Still Want You to Apply

The federal stimulus program working its way through Congress could not come at a better time for colleges and universities.

Unless changed significantly by the Senate, the bill promises about 6 billion dollars for building and renovation assistance at institutions of higher learning.

It would also increase spending on the federal assistance program called Pell Grants by about 42%

Tape: That’s an unprecedented, huge increase.

That’s David Warren.

He’s the President of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

Tape: there will also be substantial increases in what are referred to on the loan side as unsubsidized loans and you’ll be able to borrow more of that.

And according to Warren, the bill would also mean more federal money for work study programs.

All that extra help will no doubt be appreciated by families with college kids whose budgets have been slammed by the recession.

401Ks, college savings plans like 529s, anything tied to the stock market has probably taken a hit.

And the one asset that many families have counted on, their homes, has also likely dropped in value.

But, says Warren, beyond the economic gloom is a bright cloud.

Even though colleges and universities are also suffering, Warren doesn’t believe student aid will decrease.

You will see repeatedly, and I have not heard a single exception to this, is that the one area where there will be no reduction is in financial aid.

In fact every institution Warren says he’s heard from has indicated it’s actually going to increase financial aid.

And that’s probably going to be helpful.

Tape: I can’t necessarily give an exact figure on what we’re looking at in terms of tuition increase, but our goal is to minimize those as much as possible.

That’s David Proulx, Assistant Vice President for Financial Planning and Budgeting at the University of New Hampshire.

Prouxl says the university hasn’t come up with a number yet for a tuition increase.

But he does know how much UNH’s endowment lost last year, about 25%

The value of our endowment has declined from roughly about 240 million dollars two years ago, to less than 200 million currently.

As the university’s resources drop, and costs continue to rise, the money for academic programs has to come from somewhere.

Prouxl’s pretty certain it won’t be coming from the legislature in the upcoming budget.

The university has already had to return 7 million this current fiscal year.

But UNH isn’t alone in the financial struggle.
Dartmouth college reports losing about 650 million dollars.
That's an 18% drop, bringing the college's enviable endowment to 3 billion dollar endowment.

And while the college is announcing cutbacks and inevitable layoffs, Maria Laskaris, says students needing financial help shouldn’t feel the pinch.

Laskaris is Dartmouth’s Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid.

And she says the College is committed to offering financial aid to students who need it.

Last year we significantly enhanced our financial aid program with additional money for scholarhips, and students will be receiving full need based scholarships for the next academic year.

At this time, however, Laskaris couldn’t say whether Dartmouth would be raising its tuition.

Brad Poznanski at St Anselm College in Manchester says his school will likely be raising tuition, but he couldn’t say by how much.

The Vice President for Enrollment says like other institutions, St Anselm has lost about a quarter of its endowment in the stock market drop.

But he says the competition for qualified students applying for four year colleges is tighter than it has been across the country.

As Economics 101teaches us, with higher demand and diminished supply, comes increased value.

And Brad Poznanski, says institutions seem to be willing to pay the price.

College costs are high and it’s difficult for families, but I think they’ll see somewhat better packages out there this coming year than graduates of the class of 08 did.

In any case, says Poznanski, if a student hasn’t filled out the required financial aid forms yet, get on it.

Colleges will be making their decisions shortly on who gets the assistance that will no doubt be needed this year.

For NHPR News, I’m Mark Bevis.