Parents of incoming Dartmouth students and of admitted college students across America are allowing their children to attend elite institutions, so long as many of the students pay the difference between tuition and what parents can afford.
Even with significant increases in financial aid, many students at schools like Dartmouth will still have substantial loans to pay back after graduation. At Dartmouth, the average self-help package, which includes student loans and work-study, is $5,583 per year. With most campus jobs paying around $7 or $8 per hour, there seems to be a significant discrepancy between how much students can reasonably earn and how much they borrow.
"The evidence we have is that we lose very few students we admit to schools that might be less expensive," Dean of Admissions Karl Furstenberg said. "There's very little evidence that cost defers people from coming."
The situation at Dartmouth is representative of what is happening nationwide. Tuition increases at colleges and universities have had little impact on students' higher education enrollment, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics.
It seems that rising pressure for students to attend elite institutions continues to drive students toward Dartmouth and its peer institutions, even if it means that they will have to bear the financial burden of their education for long after graduation.
"I feel like making a monetary sacrifice in order to go to a school like Dartmouth is worth it," Rembert Brown '09 said. "I know once I am out of college it will be hard work to pay for these loans, but in the long run, the sacrifice seems very worth it."
Adjusted for inflation, college costs have been on the rise since 1980, but incomes have not been, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics.
Initially, federal student aid policy aimed to make college accessible to low-income families, but as tuition has increased, the goal has expanded to help middle-income students as well, especially through subsidized loans.
Because college prices have risen and average expected family contribution has declined, average financial aid has actually increased over the years. Although the average expected inflation-adjusted contribution for low- and middle-income students has actually declined since 1990, finding the funds to pay for college is still a stretch for many students and families.
Fifty-five percent of all undergraduates nationwide receive some type of financial aid to help pay for college, a figure similar to Dartmouth's.
Although some have hypothesized that the financial burden of college has shifted in part from parents to students, the trend appears more complicated. With the recent rise in financial aid at many institutions, students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds have the option of attending more costly colleges.
Furthermore, students three decades ago who wanted to avoid debt could contribute to their tuition through summer jobs and part-time jobs. Such work no longer significantly defrays the cost, since college tuition has risen at twice the rate of consumer prices. The money earned at low-wage student jobs is much less significant given current tuition rates. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a student could work full-time all summer at minimum wage and earn about two-thirds of annual college costs 25 years ago. For a Dartmouth student working a full-time minimum wage job, that figure stands at less than one-tenth of a year of tuition.
With little financial aid available 30 years ago, students attended colleges within their family's budget.
"My parents both attended state schools because of the money," Lee Cooper '09 said. "That's just what they did. Their parents and what was considered the norm influenced their decision."
Robert Hoffman '10 will attend Dartmouth next fall over Arizona State University, where he was offered a full scholarship, although he said that some of his academically strong peers did choose to attend less expensive schools.
"Personally, my father was pushing me to accept the scholarship," he said. "A number of the smartest and most qualified students at my high school are planning on attending safety schools or state schools next year despite getting into Ivy League-caliber schools, based on low tuition or scholarship offers."
Furstenberg said that a handful of students turn down Dartmouth for less expensive institutions each year, calling it "an entirely rational response."
While the wealthiest Dartmouth students can afford to bear the full tuition costs, and the College does not require those from families earning less than $30,000 per year to take out loans as part of their financial aid package, middle-income students are often left in a bind.
According to Furstenberg, middle-income students choose to attend Dartmouth at the same rate as other students, and financial aid students actually matriculate at a higher rate than non-financial aid candidates.
"I recognize that there is a squeeze in the so-called middle-income families. When we look at the data, we don't see any differences in the behavior of those students in their decision to come to Dartmouth," he said.
