<p>Vonlost, Vassar gets federal support derived from federal taxes in the form of grants to faculty members whenever a faculty member gets a grant from the NSF or any federal agency or federally funded foundation. When these grants are awarded to a faculty member, the college also receives a separate (big) check to cover building and other expenses. </p>
<p>When a faculty member gets a Fulbright Scholarship, the American middle class tax payer has helped to pay for it. Students benefit indirectly. The public also foots the bill for Fulbright Scholarships awarded in large numbers to Vassar graduates (who have benefited from a Vassar education). </p>
<p>I am not an education economist. I cannot even begin to guess how much federal money Vassar or any other college receives, but it is not a paltry sum. It’s not simply money from Pell Grants.</p>
<p>Vassar has said it has increased the number of Pell Grant students on campus. The figure is supposedly at least 20%, maybe even higher. I’ve also shown in previous posts that since Vassar supposedly adopted a policy of being need-blind around 2007, the enrollment of financial aid students has dropped every single year despite the increased enrollment of PG students. This means that the percentage of middle class students who qualify for financial aid but not PGs has dropped considerably, while the percentage of wealthy students not on financial aid has risen steadily.</p>
<p>All the elite colleges receive lots of money from the feds in one way or another, but not all claim to be need-blind when the evidence suggests otherwise. Most do not have a president openly criticizing other college presidents for not doing things her way, which includes limiting the number of middle class students from families that pay a portion of Vassar’s costs in the form of federal taxes.</p>
<p>Borghugh claims that his taxes help lower income kids go to college. But he is getting help, too, in the form of (as he says) an excellent financial aid package from Vassar. The federal taxes he pays are helping Vassar to provide HIS child with an education. The middle class students who are hurt are those who qualify for Vassar but are rejected in favor of either a PG student or a wealthy student and wind up at state university where, according to Borghugh, they might be paying even more than he is paying. </p>
<p>It doesn’t seem to bother Borghugh or KGB that the percentage of middle class students at Vassar keeps dropping. They sound perfectly willing to pull up the ladder behind them, and yet Borghugh still complains. </p>
<p>It’s old news now, but GWU was caught claiming that they are need-blind when they aren’t. Vassar is probably merely better at cooking the books.</p>
<p>Has anyone on campus asked President Hill for an explanation of why the percentage of middle class students on financial aid keeps dropping while the percentage of wealthy students keeps increasing?</p>