Three Ivies Increase Aid for Middle Class

On the heels of high-profile financial aid reforms by Ivy League peers Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth, Columbia President Lee Bollinger said that, despite its lucrative capital campaign, the University cannot afford to make similar changes.

The schools’ new policies, unveiled earlier this month, will increase aid to upper-middle class students, while relieving those in the lowest income bracket of all tuition payment.

“The prudent policy revision we are making will increase spending from the endowment to benefit students and researchers today while continuing to ensure that the endowment’s capacity to support future generations of students is undiminished,” Yale President Richard Levin said in a statement.

Under the new programs, families with incomes below $60,000 will not pay a penny toward college tuition, while those earning between $60,000 and $120,000 will be required to contribute up to 10 percent of their incomes. Harvard families with earnings between $120,000 and $180,000 will now pay on average 10 percent of their income, while Yale will extend the same rubric to families making between $120,000 and $200,000.

According to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, 50 percent of Columbia students currently receive financial aid, and beginning this school year, the University offered students from homes with incomes under $50,000 financial aid packages without any loan burden. Attempts to increase the dollar amount available for aid are also in progress—the Columbia Campaign, a $4 billion effort aimed at massive fundraising, has earmarked $440 million for aid, and the University received a financial aid-directed gift of $400 million from John Kluge, CC ’37, in April 2007.

Columbia’s endowment lingers behind Harvard’s and Yale’s, with a market value of $7.2 billion compared to Harvard’s $34.9 billion and Yale’s $22.5 billion in 2007. Dartmouth’s endowment was $3.76 billion, although the college has a smaller undergraduate population than the other three.

At a recent University Senate meeting, University President Lee Bollinger emphasized that Columbia’s current policy of covering all demonstrated need with financial aid is already a stretch for the program. “We don’t have the existing resources ... to maintain the financial aid presently offered and ... At the moment, we are stretched to the limit in doing all the things we do,” he said.

Megan McNally, BC ’10, whose brother attended Yale, said that she was not surprised about the policy divergence. “You can tell the difference in the amount of money spent on each student [at Yale and Columbia],” she said.

In addition, many Columbia students said that they envied the new policies at their Ivy League neighbors.

“I’m right in the category that would be affected by the Harvard and Yale policy, and the decision to not extend financial aid is an issue of commitment [by Columbia to its students],” Marbre Stahly-Butts, CC ’08, said.

Frederick Lee, SEAS ’11, agreed. “As a person who is upper-middle class, I wasn’t offered much financial aid,” he said. “I’m not satisfied with the current plan.”

Shane Ferro contributed to this article.

scott.levi@columbiaspectator.com