The number of incoming freshmen receiving College scholarships without loans in the 2011-2012 academic year decreased from 44.3 percent for the Class of 2014 to 42 percent for the Class of 2015, according to statistics from the Financial Aid Office obtained by The Dartmouth. The drop follows the College's February 2010 decision to resume issuing student loans for students whose families earn at least $75,000 per year. The Class of 2015 is the first class to receive its financial aid packages after the threshold for the no-loan policy was capped at $75,000.
The no-loan policy, which was originally instated during former College President James Wright's administration, is still in place for families with incomes under $75,000. The threshold was capped as part of the College's effort to cut $100 million from its budget while still preserving financial resources for the lowest-income families.
The overall number of students receiving loans has increased for the Class of 2015, although the exact number of loan recipients is not yet available, Director of Financial Aid Virginia Hazen said. The number of loan recipients is influenced not only by the change in loan policy but also by the "need of the class," she said.
Hazen said she could not attribute the increase in the number of students taking out loans to any specific factors.
"The numbers can sometimes be misleading," she said. "There can be a fluke where you end up admitting a lot of low-income students. Students can request additional loans, or in cases where no loan was packaged, request a loan."
Despite the drop in the number of scholarship recipients this year, the average scholarship amount for the Class of 2015 has increased to $38,000, up from $36,321 for the Class of 2014 and $35,501 for the Class of 2013, according to Hazen.
Under the no-loan policy, the neediest students are still protected, Hazen said. In previous years in which the no-loan policy threshold was not set at $75,000, the numbers of students receiving financial aid remained fairly stagnant. For the 2008-2009 academic year, 36.3 percent of the student body received loans, compared to 34.2 percent in 2009-2010, according to the Financial Aid Office's website.
"We still meet 100 percent demonstrated need for students below the $75,000 level with scholarship," Hazen said. "We have protected the lowest income group, so Dartmouth is as accessible as before for them."
The new loan policy reflects the larger trend in colleges across the country that have begun to reduce scholarships and provide more loan-based aid, according to Robert Morse, director of data research for U.S. News and World Report. Many schools are lowering the income level below which a student can apply for non-loan aid, he said.
"This policy doesn't affect the needy, only the upper middle class," Morse said.
While assessing budgetary allocations in the aftermath of the 2007 economic depression, Ivy League institutions "were, in general, more generous" with financial aid than public universities, Morse said.
The change in the no-loan policy did not reduce Dartmouth's appeal for Moulshri Mohan '15, although she said she had some reservations about the school's stance on determining need for families.
"[Dartmouth] was the only place I applied to that was need-blind," Mohan said. "And it said that it would meet full demonstrated need, and that seemed really good. But I didn't realize the College decides your need."
Mohan said that while she was initially wait-listed at Dartmouth, she decided to attend after comparing her financial aid package from Smith College, where she was accepted first.
Dartmouth offers students the option to estimate their family's expected contribution to tuition costs through a net price calculator tool on the Financial Aid Office website.
A recent survey of senior admissions officials conducted and published by Inside Higher Ed on Sept. 21 reported that colleges are under increasing pressure to accept more students who do not request financial aid in order to reduce budget deficits.
"For many colleges, a top goal of admissions directors is recruiting students who can pay more," a report from the survey said. "Recruiting more full pay' students those who don't need financial aid is seen as a key goal in public higher education, a sector traditionally known for its commitment to access."
