franglish

The above is from a letter to parents written today, February 23, 2008, from Brown University President Ruth Simmons.

negru

But I assume only for us students

Sectumsempra

<3

(ten char)

jerzgrlmom

I was happy to read the part that said this new policy affects CURRENT students as well as incoming freshman.

"The new financial aid also sharply reduces loan expectations for all students who receive financial aid, regardless of family income. The new provisions apply to all current students who receive financial aid, as well as to the Class of 2012, which matriculates next fall."

yuying

Does this apply to international students as well?

Ponydance

wait, so...If I (by some insane spot of luck) get into Brown, and my family makes less than $60,000 a year, I go for free? Am I misunderstanding?

franglish

I am not sure what it means for international students. There is nothing in the letter (you can read it on the President's site at the brown.edu web site). Also, I don't know if the cut off is just for tuition or if it includes room and board and fees as well. We'll have to wait and see what else comes up. But it does look as if your family's income is under $60,000 you will not pay tuition. That is in keeping with most of the other Ivies, as well as many other schools who have adjusted their aid policies recently. There are different details for different schools. Harvard and Yale did something similar to this a year ago, and then they increased their aid dramatically
recently. That is what touched off this fire storm of dramatic changes.

sly_vt

As I read the announcement, if your family income is less than $60,000 (and I'm not sure how they calculate family income and whether assets will be considered), the parental contribution will be zero. However, the student will be expected to make a contribution -- from summer work and, for upperclassmen, working during the school year. The letter carefully says 'most students' which allows them a loophole (I would imagine for high asset levels). My reading of the announcement is that tuition, room and board is included in this new policy.

According to Brown, financial aid for foreign students is limited (Brown Admission: International Students) I saw nothing in the new policy to suggest this has changed. Perhaps it has, and internationals are included in the new plan, but that is not evident from the announcement.

I'm also glad to see that the increase in total costs was kept at 3.9 percent -- not as good as Yale's 2.5, but better than the 5% that has been the norm.

posterX

This is great for people making less than $60K, but for most families, Brown's aid awards won't be nearly as good as those at HYP, where even students from families making $200K or more per year will see greatly reduced tuition. Brown simply doesn't have the ability to compete at that level.

For international students, Brown is not need-blind. That means it favors rich kids in admissions. Harvard, Yale and a couple of other schools are the only places that are need-blind for 100% of all admitted students, including internationals.

In my opinion, Brown should scrap its plans to overhaul tired campus infrastructure and build new facilities, and instead use that money to try to compete with HYP (or at least come a little closer) in terms of financial aid. That would encourage more alumni to support the university. As it is now, the best students won't be choosing Brown because it will be so much cheaper to go to HYP.

modestmelody

The return of the troll! Awesome. How's crew going, Sean?

negru

I asked the finaid office if the changes apply to international students and apparently they do. Woot?!

This is what they said
My question was
"I was wondering if the changes to the financial aid policy for undergraduate students coming from low income families also apply to international students."

And the response was
"In your case, yes. Since you received financial aid upon admission to Brown University, you will continue to receive it. As of the 0809, the new policies will be applied."

I'm not interpreting anything wrong am I ?

modestmelody

Yeah it sounds like they do to me as well, Negru.

jsa928

One of the major disadvantages to this new program is that freshman are no longer exempt from the work/study program with the University Work Scholarship.

modestmelody

The benefits far outweigh that disadvantage-- even if a student chooses not to work they'll be paying significantly less as a family overall as the discounts far exceed $2,500.

Sungchul

Was this letter mailed only to current Brown students or to everyone (including ALL prospective 2010s)?