Following in the footsteps of fellow Ivies, Brown University recently decided to implement a need-blind admissions policy. Along with other selective private colleges, the Ivy League admits students without regard to financial considerations.
Because of Brown's similar size and proximal location, it is frequently considered one of Tufts' "benchmark schools" and is used as a standard for comparison. Tufts' admissions policy is not need-blind, but director of financial aid Bill Eastwood says it is very close.
"It depends on the year," Eastwood said. Admissions officials currently disregard applicants' financial situations but meet with the Financial Aid department in March before acceptance letters are sent out to "tweak the margins," Eastwood said. "It's really only a matter of 30 or 40 students, and those are usually the students on the margin."
Even before Brown's policy changed, at least 90 percent of the its admissions decisions were made with no regard to the students' ability to pay tuition. The University's administration had long argued that the institution lacked the funds to completely disregard financial matters in the admissions process.
But Brown officials say that policy changes such as a tuition raise for full-paying students will increase the financial aid budget by at least $1.3 million in the first year. Brown's current price tag, which includes tuition, fees, and room and board, is $34,750 and will rise to $36,356 next year.
Brown president Ruth J. Simmons called the switch to a need-blind admissions policy a moral imperative given the quality of the education Brown provides. Unlike most institutions with similar admissions policies, Brown will not require first-year students on financial aid to work. Simmons said the university wants all first-year students to concentrate on their studies.
Dean of Admissions David Cuttino said Brown's move should provide Tufts with momentum.
"I applaud Brown," Cuttino said. "Brown gives us all the more reason to want to make this final step. He added that
Cuttino said that while other institutions may be need-blind, many of them do not promise - as Tufts does - to meet admitted students' needs. Students' needs can unexpectedly change during the four years at Tufts, and the office will adjust financial aid to match.
Currently 45 percent of Tufts students receive some form of financial aid, including federal, state, or a private Tufts scholarship or grant. About 37 percent of students receive University aid.
A standard Tufts aid package is about $2,000 in work-study eligibility, $4,000 in loans, and the rest in grant and scholarship aid. The average Tufts aid award amounts to about $22,100. Dean Cuttino called this amount "very comparable" to those of Tufts' closest competitors, the other institutions that prospective Tufts students most often consider.
Of the students admitted to Tufts, those who are offered financial aid choose to attend the University at a rate of five to six percent higher than those who did not apply for aid.
Student, faculty, and administrative support for implementing a need-blind admissions policy has been increasing, Cuttino said.
"The effort to increase funding for students has been a major part, and one of the most successful parts, of the Capital Campaign," he said. That campaign, with a goal of $600 million, is scheduled to conclude in June. By the end of December, 96.6 percent of the funds had been secured.
Dean Cuttino called the decision to go need-blind "an important step, about which there has been a good deal of conversation. We want students with talent, perspective, and experience, from rural and urban settings, from all over the world, and from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds," he said.
Tufts spends about $25 million a year on unrestricted grants and scholarships. Implementing a need-blind admissions policy would be expensive, though it is premature predict exactly how much such a policy would cost the University.
Given the emphasis Tufts places on an internationally-oriented education, administrators have said that Tufts has also considered offering a limited amount of financial support for foreign citizens.
