Financial Aid Isn’t Just About Staying Competitive

Columbia made a phenomenal commitment to financial aid last year, transferring all loans to grants for students whose families make less than $50,000 a year. I was extremely proud of Columbia’s commitment, and I still am. Columbia has also been rather generous in providing me with financial assistance, so I in no way mean to appear ungrateful when I say that our University needs to do more—and not only because of the recent commitments of our peer institutions.

Saying that it can be very difficult to finance a Columbia education, even if your parents make upwards of $50,000 is an understatement. It can be nearly impossible and can put students in the uncomfortable position of having to watch their families make sacrifices in order to enable them to attend this University. Many of our students graduate with hefty loans to repay, even before entering graduate school. The need to lessen the financial burden on our current and prospective students is reason enough to expand our aid packages.

The recent reforms made by Harvard and our other peers offer another impetus for reform. From this year forward, Harvard students whose families have yearly incomes between $60,000 and $120,000 will be expected to contribute between 0 and 10 percent of their income, and families making between $120,000 and $180,000 are expected to contribute 10 percent. Yale has adopted similar reforms, offering aid to families making up to $200,000 a year. The University of Pennsylvania has replaced all loans with grants for families making less than $100,000 a year. And Dartmouth has replaced all loans with grants for students from families making less than $75,000 a year. Columbia and Cornell are the only Ivy League universities who have not made increased commitments, although Cornell is expected to make a commitment by the end of March.

To stay competitive in attracting the “best and the brightest,” Columbia will have to offer comparable aid packages. It is in the interest of everyone at Columbia for our students to be the most interesting and intelligent out there. While we must acknowledge the importance of remaining a competitive University, we must not forget that financial aid is about something more important—students simply should not have to choose where to attend college based on their financial means. Higher education should be a right, not a privilege.

And in Columbia’s defense, it is not that we are ignoring the issue. Columbia’s $7-billion endowment will have a difficult time competing with Harvard’s over-$35-billion endowment and, understandably, it may take a bit more time to determine what type of commitment is possible. However, we have to do it.

CCSC is committed to doing everything we can to see financial aid reform at Columbia once more. We unanimously passed a resolution this Sunday asking the administration to make a similar commitment. But providing grants to students whose families make between $60,000 and $200,000 is going to require effort on many fronts. This means our Capital Campaign is all the more important. It means that the Senior Fund is all the more important. So I am going to end this submission by asking you to take action. If your families are planning on donating to Columbia, ask them to earmark their donations to financial aid. Seniors, I implore you to demonstrate to our alumni that we are committed to helping our peers and designate your Senior Fund donation to financial aid.

In a recent New York Times op-ed (“Ivy-League Letdown,” Jan. 22, 2008), former dean of students Roger Lehecka and Columbia humanities professor Andrew Delbanco wrote, “For every college to become accessible to talented students regardless of income, the federal government must create enhanced grant programs, progressive tax incentives and programs that reduce the debt of graduates who spend time in public service.” I could not more whole-heartedly agree with that statement. However, until the government creates such incentives, it is our universities—hopefully with our help—that must step up.

The author is a Columbia College senior majoring in political science and the president of CCSC.