<p>Denzel Washingon can be inspiring. Months ago someone posted how Denzel was visiting a hospital in Texas, and they were building a wing. He wrote a check on the spot to complete the building. I’m sure whatever college his S attends will benefit from his generosity.</p>
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<p>Provocative thought–clearly MIT places a much higher priority on “sharing its educational wealth” with the world. MIT’s endowment is 20% of Harvard’s and their annual fundraising is 50% of Harvard’s, but MIT makes its courseware freely available to the entire world through its Open Courseware initiative. Students around the world watch MIT lectures on videos and have access to MIT problem sets and course handouts. Professors around the world can use the MIT website in developing their own courses.</p>
<p>Harvard, by contrast, makes some distance-learning classes available through the Extension School, at a considerable discount from the sticker price, but it’s certainly not free. Even an auditor who doesn’t want course credit or feedback on assignments has to pay Harvard hundreds of dollars to access the kind of material that MIT makes freely available on its Open Courseware site.</p>
<p>I understand that Harvard (and other colleges) spend lots of money on mailing unsolicited expensive glossy viewbooks filled with color photos. </p>
<p>MIT’s marketing materials are much less glossy and expensive. The MIT Open Courseware site simultaneously advertises and promotes MIT and educates the world for free at the same time. </p>
<p>Clearly, these decisions reflect very different institutional priorities. One wonders what MIT would do if they had Harvard’s endowment and Harvard’s annual fundraising success. </p>
<p>Then again, Harvard’s generous donors, past and present, apparently endorse Harvard’s priorities. It’s an interesting statement about them.</p>
<p>My take:</p>
<p>It wasn’t an issue for undergrad, but I decided not to apply for merit scholarships in law school (I was invited to apply for a few). Since I wasn’t borrowing money, and the vast majority of potential recipients would have to borrow without the scholarship, it did not seem right to me.</p>
<p>My sister made the same choice. If she’d borrowed money for law school, Yale would have paid her entire loan payment for the last 10 years because she was in very low-paying public interest jobs (as she knew she would be). But it didn’t feel right to her to take charity she didn’t actually need, so she didn’t take the loans.</p>
<p>wisteria…</p>
<p>harvard has done a lot to make their resources available and affordable to undergraduate candidates from rather modest backgrounds, as well as the public. while i personally think they could do more, they are pounding the pavement, looking for talented low income students, as well as talented students of color, like other institutions. also, keep in mind they were one of the leaders in wiping out loan and work burdens for low income students. additionally, research is huge at harvard - they spend hundreds of millions each year on research in traditional disciplines, but also in education, public policy, public health, and other areas concerned with social good and justice. </p>
<p>thanks sly_vt ;)</p>
<p>“The token merit award is often incentive enough to enroll such a student over a competitor offering no merit money…the school still gets $40,000 from the student, usually one with high testing and gpa.”</p>
<p>Doesn’t have to be called “merit award” either. Princeton’s “no-loan” policy toward top quintile ($100-$160k) students is essentially the same thing, though it is called “need-based”.</p>
<p>Wisteria, MIT offers this through the Open Courseware Consortium that includes Notre Dame, Tufts, and Johns Hopkins, as well as some overseas institutions.</p>
<p>It’s awesome, isn’t it? The range of course offerings would keep one busy for a lifetime.</p>
<p>mini…
i believe the no loan policy at princeton is need-based…kids in those income brackets do sometimes qualify for aid (usually if they have a sibling in school). it’s my understanding that princeton will not require anyone to borrow…that does not mean, however, that the institution will provide grant assistance to a family who does not want to borrow if they do not qualify for need-based assistance according to the institution’s need calculations. or are you referring to something else?</p>
<p>Mini,</p>
<p>Here is test for you. What kind of finacial aid isn’t “merit aid”? If your answer is none, which I think it is, then I guess you believe the word “merit” has no meaning.</p>
<p>AdOfficer: I would just like to add that many merit scholarship programs are privately endowed and do not remove any money from university need-based aid. They are, in fact, separate entities. Also, many merit-based scholarships exist–both privately endowed and university-sponsored–that are a combination of merit and need. </p>
<p>I am also curious about the list of the schools that are “literally spending 60%+ of their aid money on merit aid.” Certainly, with public universities, a move that substantial would be hard to push through/gain approval–with taxpayer/public monies, I would think.</p>
<p>There are two really important elements in a great education: smart professors and smart fellow students. To me it makes no more sense to view merit aid as being at the expense of need-based aid than it is to think of faculty salaries as being at the expense of need-based aid. Money is fungible after all.</p>
<p>AdOfficer – You hit it exactly with your response, both with our description and with my concerns. White upper middle-class, with kids who have had every possible opportunity they can to succeed. I feel blessed with all that my family has been given, but at the same time I feel like I want some return on our investment! Even from where we are, paying for college is a daunting task. Going to state universities is almost a given, as there is no way we can realistically afford an expensive private college. </p>
<p>I realize how difficult it is for others to afford college, and I’m glad there is money out there for those who really need it. While my kids have had every opportunity, they made the most of them. I’m not sure there is a definite answer, but I’m glad there is some merit money out there for us, even if it isn’t as much as I would like.</p>
<p>AdOfficer,</p>
<p>While Harvard does spend large amount on research a big chunk of that comes from the Federal Government in the form of grants which is separate from their endowment, or more accurately endowments.</p>
<p>It has always been my contention that there should be merit aid but only after a school is meeting 100% of student need. Merit aid works great for athletics. These students are often inspired to work hard to earn that scholarship.</p>
<p>The trouble is there is no clear definition of 100% of need. Some schools think it means larger loans, some change the EFC using the Profile, etc. For example, as I understand it, Princeton allows for a deduction for siblings attending private high schools. Their rationale is that they would allow it for another private college why not the schooling leading up to it.</p>
<p>Anyway, my point is that need should come first and merit should follow to what ever level a school would like to provide. I just think that schools with large endowments could do more to support a broader educational mission. The OpenCourseWare initiative that MIT, ND, Tufts and others participate in is a great start.</p>
<p>jack…
many of the institutions that are spending more on merit than on need-based aid are private third and fourth tier schools. i’ve got a great reference i can give you to read, but i’m at work now so i’ll pm you a link to it later when i look it up at home 
but it’s frightening. </p>
<p>you are very correct asserting that some merit-based aid programs come from private funding…however, a lot of institutional aid that is given as merit is not encumbered for merit aid. unless the scholarship has a person’s name attached to it, chances are it is coming out of the same aid budget as the need-based aid. it is, however, encouraging to see that some institutions are using a combination of both need-based and merit aid for their neediest students. </p>
<p>tuition dad…
great to hear that your kids are taking advantage of everything they can, regardless of your financial situation. </p>
<p>eagle…
you are absolutely right…a lot of funding for research done at harvard comes from federal and private sources. however, it is hard to ignore how much institutional money is going into the research being done there as well. in addition, many people ignore the fact that there are tens of thousands of people employed by the university, the amount of money many of the schools at harvard give back to many different communities, and a lot of other good the institution does. sure, mit, nd, and tufts use opencourseware. cheers to them - they are all wonderful institutions. but there are also hundreds of harvard undergrad and grad students working and volunteering in schools all over the world. there are faculty members there who spend a lot of time doing research that benefits our nation’s schools, hospitals, and social services. there are cultural projects and events the school sponsors that are open to the public. just because the school has a huge endowment does not mean it isn’t contributing in a positive way, or that its mission has become something deplorable which, though i’m sure you are not suggesting, many do. as an alum, i have my issues with the place, but it ain’t as bad as some people think!</p>
<p>for those that vote, no, how about local community scholarships for which kids are nominated by a local HS? Should the HS take the kid’s financial situation into consideration? </p>
<p>For example, a local land owner gives out a $10k scholarship to one kids from each of our local HS, but the HS essentially does the selection. Note, its not necesarily a Val since community service is a big component of the criteria. This past year, the kid who applied and was nominated from our HS already had a full ride…he used the cash as a down payment on a 'Vette. But, the point is to perform enuf community service means that one has the time and doesn’t have to bag groceries at Kroger for a living…</p>
<p>mini:</p>
<p>I read on a different thread that P’ton also ignores home equity in the efc. If true, it thus gives more free money to the upper middle class.</p>
<p>bBuebayou, if the local landowner set the guidelines as community service, then that’s what the scholarship should reward. </p>
<p>Don’t most of those require a check to be sent directly to the college? Or put into a trust?</p>
<p>ss:</p>
<p>sorry, I forgot to add that top 10% of class was also used by the HS for a filter. But, what would be the difference if the developer gave the money over to a local college and told them to do the same thing, ie. award the money w/o regards to need.</p>
<p>Stickershock, did you not get bluebayou’s point? </p>
<p>He said:</p>
<p>“But, the point is to perform enuf community service means that one has the time and doesn’t have to bag groceries at Kroger for a living…”</p>
<p>The whole point is that the only reason that the kid got the scholarship was that he had enough TIME to do the community service, in comparison to kids who were working to support their families. Sounds “real fair” to me. It did reward “community service”, but I’m sure if that kid had to work to support his family, he would not have gotten that scholarship. </p>
<p>I think need should have been a factor. It’s not fair for that kid to go buy a car when someone else doesn’t have enough money to attend college. Let’s be fair – those who don’t have enough money to attend college were probably the same ones that were working instead of doing “community service”.</p>
<p>As a practical matter, are there really that many scholarships that do not take “need” into account?</p>
<p>I have perused only a few, but each and every one had a financial need component (For example, “Explain how you plan to pay for your education.”).</p>
<p>murkywater: You & Blue & anyone else is free to set up scholarships with any guidelines you wish. I could make the same argument against UNICO scholarships where you must be of Italian ancestry…“What about German kids? Or Japanese kids?” Or the thousands of others with guidelines that aren’t even remotely related to what could reasonably be defined as merit. It’s a silly argument. The landowner is a philanthropist, yet some are criticizing his guidelines. Geez…it’s a wonder he continues to fund it.</p>
<p>From just the early research I’ve done, need is the primary factor in scholarship awards. I agree with Bay.</p>