In keeping with trends from previous admissions cycles, approximately 65 percent of the 23,052 applicants for the Class of 2016 have indicated interest in financial aid, according to Director of Admissions Recruitment Dan Parish.
The percentage of applicants who apply for financial aid varies each year but usually falls in the mid- to high-60s according to Director of Financial Aid Virginia Hazen.
To date, the Office of Financial Aid has only reviewed applications of students who have been accepted through the early decision pool, given that regular decision candidates have not yet received admissions decisions, Hazen said. Among the early decision pool, approximately 54 percent of applicants and 44 percent of accepted applicants expressed interest in financial aid, according to Hazen.
Hazen said she expects that more students accepted during the early decision process will submit applications for financial aid than indicated interest when they applied.
"Some families think getting in is the thing that is important and worry about finances later," Hazen said.
In 2010, the College eliminated the no-loans guarantee policy that began with the Class of 2012 in an effort to bridge the $100-million budget deficit announced in February 2010. The revised policy now requires entering students with family incomes over $75,000 to take out loans of $2,500 to $5,500 each academic year.
Members of the Class of 2016 who receive financial aid will be the second group of incoming students affected by the change in policy. The reinstatement of loans for families with incomes above $75,000 affecting 60 percent of students receiving financial aid in the Class of 2015 did not seem to "definitively" influence application numbers for the Class of 2016, Hazen said.
Within the Class of 2015, 56 percent of accepted applicants and 50 percent of matriculated students applied for financial aid. These numbers are slightly lower than those for the Class of 2014, of which 60 percent of accepted applicants and 57 percent of matriculating students applied for aid, Hazen said.
Because Dartmouth's admissions process is need-blind and meets accepted students' needs as defined by the Office of Financial Aid, variations in need among admitted students result from the composition of the applicant pool, according to Hazen.
"The composition of this year's applicant pool doesn't suggest any particularly dramatic shifts from last year's applicant pool," Parish said.
The Office of Financial Aid is more concerned with the number of admitted students who apply for financial aid than the number of applicants indicating interest in aid overall, according to Hazen. Officers can only approximate the number of accepted applicants who express interest in financial aid and will not be able to report exact numbers of students receiving aid or the size of financial aid packages until incoming students matriculate in the fall. Changes to financial aid packages can occur after the packages are first offered if families' financial circumstances change, tax returns reveal numbers much higher or lower than estimated or other forms of verification provide new information, Hazen said.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, one of two main forms used to determine student eligibility for financial aid, became available on Jan. 1, Hazen said. While students who applied early decision submitted a CSS/Financial Aid Profile through the College Board to indicate need, the submission of FAFSA paperwork at the beginning of February can lead to additional changes in financial aid packages for students admitted during early decision, Hazen said.
