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A question of finances
Scholarship allocation to change radically
BEN THORNE
staff writer
The Admissions and Finance
Offices proposed a change in the
distribution of
scholarship
funds a
change which
could affect
the make-up
of Guilford's
future fresh
men classes.
*
Al Newell
"I am convinced that Guilford,
as the college we care about, won't
be able to afford to have the kind
of student body we have. We're not
talking about dire straits, but about
taking pro-active steps," stated An
thony Gurley, Director of the Fi
nancial Aid Office.
It could have a major impact on
the admissions process.
Essentially, the change is being
proposed because competition
with other colleges is a problem.
November 17, 1995
About fifteen years ago money
was awarded without a standard
grade requirement, based on a net
percentage of the total tuition, usu
ally 15%.
This was when there were many
students, and competition between
colleges was not necessary. There
fore, college marketing was not
needed.
Gurley said this all changed ten
years ago. Colleges began to com
pete with each other for students.
Guilford adapted by setting up dif
ferent scholarships for different
groups of students. While this has
helped contribute to Guilford's di
versity, it has also been the source
of financial trouble.
"What Guilford has discovered
is the way that aid is given, par
ticularly to merit and 'need' stu
dents, has been particularly expen
sive," Gurley stated.
He continued, "In 1988, Guilford
spent $281,000 dollars total in
honors scholarships. In 1995 sll3
million dollars was spent between
honors and presidential scholar
ships. That's a five-fold increase
in seven years. Guilford simply
can't afford that. We're talking
about a major restructuring of the
aid process."
"The goal is to provide the big
gest net return to the college for
the financial dollars invested with
the least impact on the student
body, by targeting the grant dol
lars in a different way," noted
Gurley.
"We have gotten so expensive
that middle-income families who
can't afford Guilford are going to
less expensive schools."
What is actually going to change
is still being debated. However, A 1
Newell, Dean of Admission, pro
vided insight on what is currently
being discussed.
"Under the current proposal, the
honors budget would remain in
tact. A high percentage of honors
students also qualify for need
based aid. We are going to treat
some of the money received from
honors scholarships towards that
need-based aid," commented
Newell.
He went on to say that "if it
works as we assume it will, we
Earn valuable experience...
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should still be bringing in the same
size pool of honors students among
the freshmen class (about 10%)."
"The academic range of the pro
file will become narrowed because
students at the top of the pool who
need the most money, and those
who are at the bottom who both
have a high need and are at the
low-end of the academic scale, will
probably decide to go elsewhere."
This "narrowing" of the aca
demic range, also called compres
sion, of students at Guilford is the
biggest concern.
Rachel Christenson, a senior in
Community Senate, stated that it
is usual for there to be a panic
among students whenever chang
ing the scholarships is discussed.
Beyond that, however, is some
valid worry.
She commented, "There is some
concern that students in the middle
range and students who have high
need and high SAT scores, who
have worked really hard in school.
will not get as much money."
"It all gets really confusing, but
A 1 has done an incredible job of
relating everything in language we
(the Senate) can understand," she
further added.
If this plan takes effect, a full
need honors student can qualify for
SIB,OOO, all of which is grant
money. An additional S3OOO to
$3500 will not be grant money, but
will be loans or money earned
from work study.
"We'll figure out hopefully what
worked and what didn't, and tweak
that. I'm absolutely certain that it
isn't going to work completely the
first time, but when the next year
comes around, we should have
tweaked what went wrong, and do
it better the next time," added
Gurley.
There seems to be a general feel
ing of hope and enthusiasm among
everyone involved.
"After talking with A 1 Newell
and Dan Poteet at the student lead
ership lunch, I felt more comfort
able about the proposal," stated
Christenson.
Newell added," I am genuinely
excited about what we're going to
do."