College Board mulls fin. aid

Universities across the country may soon see changes in how financial aid is calculated, as the College Board is considering modifying its institutional methodology -- the formula used to determine student financial need. College Board spokesperson Jack Joyce said that an advisory committee is reviewing the current formula used by the College Board's financial aid division to assess student need. The group has developed several modifications which will primarily benefit middle-class families, he added. Hundreds of institutions -- including Harvard, Yale and Princeton universities -- currently use information collected by the College Board's financial aid division to evaluate student need. Those schools will be directly affected by the changes. Penn, however, does not currently use the College Board's formula to establish the amount of student need and will not directly be affected by the possible changes. Instead, Penn's Student Financial Services has its "own institutional methodology" to evaluate student need, according to SFS Director William Schilling. Schilling explained that if the College Board's institutional methodology changes are implemented, Penn will review its own formula and decide if it needs to make similar changes. "[Changes are] not imminent," Schilling said, noting that the possible changes in the College Board would not take effect until the 2000-2001 school year. These proposed modifications follow a series of sweeping financial aid changes at Ivy League institutions over the past year. Both Princeton and Harvard -- along with Stanford University, Dartmouth College and a slew of other top schools -- recently overhauled their financial aid programs to attract low- and middle-income students, most frequently by replacing the loan portion of aid packages with additional grants. Penn is currently fundraising to improve the percentage of the school's endowment it can give to student aid. University officials have said their goal is to make the financial aid packages comparable to those offered by peer institutions. Joyce explained that the College Board has been examining the financial issues that middle class families face when they pay for college. "The expected family contribution from middle-income families had become unrealistic," said Joyce. He explained that adjustments could include a reevaluation of the amount a family can afford to pay to a respective institution. In the future, the formula may be "a little more sensitive" Joyce said. Joyce also explained that the new methodology would acknowledge that a family with more than one child must retain savings in order to afford a college education for additional children. "Protection would be made on assets for future children," he said. Joyce said that the recommended changes to the institutional methodology will be discussed at regional College Board meetings throughout February before being recommended to the Board of Trustees for approval.

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