It seems that the recent budget cuts have become a passing thought and our focus has shifted to other more important things graduation, internships and the appearance of up-and-coming rap artist Sam Adams, for example. This is somewhat surprising considering the substantial impact that budget cuts will have on the future of the College. Specifically, the decision to end the no-loan financial aid policy for families whose income exceeds $75,000 is sure to have a largely negative effect on the diversity of our future student body.
Two years ago, former College President James Wright instituted a financial aid policy that promised financial aid without loans to all aid recipients regardless of income. His stance that "the College [is] committed to helping superbly qualified students attend Dartmouth, regardless of their financial means," according to a January 2008 College press release, was reflected in his undertaking of this project. Unfortunately, only the Classes of 2012, 2013 and 2014 will benefit from Wright's commitment to accessibility, as loans will be reinstated in financial packages starting with the Class of 2015.
Dartmouth will continue to provide a completely need-blind admissions process for its applicants, but the reinstatement of loans over scholarships will be a limiting factor for students who must take financial aid into consideration when selecting which college to attend. Loans taken out during college are extremely burdensome after graduation , when students must concentrate on paying back loans instead of pursuing personal or career goals. Consequently, competitive students who would otherwise attend Dartmouth may be forced to enroll at state universities that offer full scholarships.
But that's not the whole story. It's obvious that this policy will put more strain on students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds trying to come to Dartmouth, but it's less often recognized that this policy change will also hurt the current students at our small college.
Even with the no-loan financial aid policy that is currently in place, the lack of socioeconomic diversity at Dartmouth continues to be a problem. It seems that despite repeated efforts to diversify the student body, materialism and overindulgence continue unabated on our campus. From the ubiquitous, but expensive Lacoste t-shirts to the $145 Longchamp bags that every girl in the library seems to own, it's sometimes easy to forget that Hanover is an extraordinarily secluded bubble that in no way represents the world or even the country at large. This misrepresentation will only worsen with the lower enrollment of financially disadvantaged students that will result from the reinstatement of loans.
I remember the first time I visited Hanover my tour guide explained that the reason she loved Dartmouth was her interaction with people of different histories and backgrounds. While I certainly have met and talked to many interesting people in my time here, I consistently feel that the majority of the people I meet come from the same upper-class backgrounds. The homogeneity at Dartmouth not only adversely affects the people who do not come from privileged backgrounds and feel unable to relate to those around them, but ultimately it is most detrimental to those who come from New England prep schools and have gone this far without knowing what it's like to worry about money.
Because Hanover is so isolated, it is important to have a student body that can give insight into parts of the world that few of us have been able to experience firsthand. While I love the overabundance of resources to which I have access at Dartmouth, I realize the overindulgence that I partake in every day keeps me in a perpetual state of blindness to important issues that I will face later in life. I'm starting to think that these comforts will, in the long run, be detrimental when I graduate college and experience the shock of the "real world."
Diversifying our student body provides a shimmering glimpse of the outside world in the isolated perfection that Hanover provides, and allows the fairy tale of Dartmouth to be balanced with the truth of hardship in the world. Taking away the financial aid policy that Wright worked so hard to achieve is analogous to closing off part of our education as well.
