Sixty-five percent of the 18,755 applicants for the Class of 2014 indicated their intent to apply for financial aid, a similar percentage to last year's figure, according to Maria Laskaris, dean of admissions and financial aid. Although the total number of financial aid applicants increased this year, the change reflects the increase in the total number of applicants to the College, Laskaris said.
The deadline for members of the Class of 2014 to apply for financial aid passed on Feb. 1.
Although budget cuts announced last week will change the College financial aid policy going forward, the Class of 2014 and current students will only be affected by changes to the policy for obtaining a free Summer term scholarship, according to a letter addressed to the financial aid recipients in the Classes of 2011-2013 from Virginia Hazen, director of financial aid.
The Summer term scholarship is awarded to financial aid recipients who are rising seniors for a "free Summer term" in which they can pursue off-campus study, research or other unpaid activities, according to the letter. The scholarship has been automatically awarded to all eligible students since its institution two years ago, the letter said.
"We now ask students to apply for funding for the free Summer term scholarship," Laskaris said.
The applications for the 2010 Summer term will be due in May, and applicants will be selected based on the merits of their proposals, according to Hazen's letter. The letter did not specify how many students will be approved for funding.
The budget cut plan announced last week will not have a significant impact on the Class of 2014 or current students at the College, Laskaris said.
"For the Class of 2015, [the College] will be reinstating a small loan for all students with family income above $75,000, in amounts ranging from $2,500 to $5,500 per year, depending on their family incomes," Laskaris said. "For the Class of 2014 and current students there will not be any reinstating [of] loans."
The Class of 2014 will remain under the no-loans policy that applies to the Classes of 2012 and 2013, according to Hazen's letter. The policy covers all financial aid recipients regardless of family income, the letter said.
A free tuition and no-loan financial aid policy for students with family incomes of less than $75,000 will still apply for students in the Class of 2015 and later, Laskaris said.
Yale University experienced a decrease in the financial aid applicants among early action applications for the Class of 2014, according to the Yale Daily News. Of the students admitted early, 57 percent filed intent to apply for financial aid, down from 62 percent at this point last year.
For the upcoming year, Dartmouth's overall financial aid budget will increase by 10 percent, College President Jim Yong Kim announced last week. The financial aid budget for Harvard University similarly increased from $136 million last year to $145 million this year, The Harvard Crimson reported. Yale has made financial aid the only expenditure that is immune to budget cuts, according to the Daily News.
Dartmouth's commitment to need-blind admissions will remain unchanged, Kim stated previously.
