To the Editor:
I just want to point out that this otherwise excellent article ("College adds $1.6 Million to financial aid," The Dartmouth, April 4th, 2001) does include some misleading analysis. The comparison of the average scholarship at Brown ($19,280) and Dartmouth ($17,600), gives the impression that Brown is more generous than Dartmouth with its financial aid. This is incorrect. The higher figure for Brown reflects the fact that its relatively limited financial aid program is focused on low-income students who need larger aid packages. Brown's need aware admissions policy probably means that students from moderate income families, who do not contribute to the University's diversity goals, tend to be passed over for students from wealthier families. This is not the case at Dartmouth -- hence, when Dartmouth's smaller aid packages for moderate income students are included, the average scholarship aid package appears to be smaller than that provided by Brown. It looks lower, because Dartmouth offers more aid, not less. One consequence of these differences in financial aid policies, I suspect, is that Brown's student body has a more bimodal income distribution than Dartmouth's.
By the way, I know that the Brown Corporation has under consideration several scenarios for adopting need-blind admissions, but I had not heard that it had announced its decision to adopt need blind for next year.
