For the first time in 20 years, the College Board is upgrading its institutional methodology -- a formula it uses to determine a college applicant's financial needs -- altering the way schools across the country calculate aid packages for college applicants.
The aim of the revised formula is to increase aid eligibility for middle-income families and reduce the expected family contribution students in that income bracket, according to Jack Joyce, the College Board's manager for communication and training services.
However, the revised formula will not significantly affect the way Dartmouth determines its aid packages because of the recent radical changes the College has made to the way it calculates financial aid.
"It's going about it a different way, but we may end up with very similar answers," Director of Financial Aid Virginia Hazen said.
The new formula will go into effect next year at Dartmouth when the financial aid office determines aid for the Class of 2004.
The changes to the methodology were brought about from recommendations made by college and university financial aid representatives. The 12-member Financial Aid Services Advisory Committee will meet this week to discuss the upcoming changes.
Joyce said the most significant change to the formula is the new provision related to savings. "It protects a family's assets assuming that some of the money is being saved for younger children," he said.
The new formula, Joyce continued, also attempts to guard families' savings against unexpected emergencies, and reduce slightly the assessment rates.
For the past 17 years, if a family had two children in college, it paid half of the determined possible contribution for each child, Hazen said. The new formula proposes that families should pay 60 percent for each child.
The new formula also takes home equity into account. This factor is not included in old methodology which gives families with homes an advantage over families who do not own houses when financial aid is determined.
Hazen said to accurately assess the affects of the modifications to the formula, she must finish analyzing the revised institutional methodology.
"I feel that the analysis we've been doing currently is fair, regardless of what formula we use to get there," Hazen said. She plans to maintain this equity in future financial aid decisions, regardless of the College Board's suggested formula.
