Shaping the Future of a College: Moregrade-based aid

by ThomasMcKee editor in chief

Imagine what it would have been like to apply to a college already knowing exactly how much your tuition would be reduced based on the merit of your high school transcript.

Next year's crop of incoming first-year students did.

Prospective incoming students were notified about any academic aid they would receive early in their senior year in high school, before they had even applied to Cabrini. This change in recruiting strategy, along with others, has resulted in a 120 percent increase in applications this year, according to Dr. James Hirsh, vice president for enrollment services.

The change in the way financial aid is being distributed is actually quite easy to understand. More money is being given out to students for academic accheivement, as opposed to financial need. The students are finding out about their aid earlier than ever before.

"What we've really changed is how we communicate to students," Hirsh said.

In the past, a student would apply to Cabrini, be accepted and then receive a financial aid package in the early spring.

Now, a group of telemarketers, made up of admissions representatives and professional telemarketers, call prospective students, whose names have been purchased from the College Board. They then make them aware of any academic aid, based on their high school grades, that they would receive should they come to Cabrini. The phone calls are made as early as the fall semester of the students' senior year in high school, according to Hirsh.

"The better performance you have in high school," Hirsh said, "the more aid you qualify for."

The college has not completely abandoned its previous recruiting techniques. Students still receive the traditional viewbook in the mail, but a phone call soon follows.

"It's really one of the key factors in applications being up 120 per- cent," Hirsh said.

With a price tag of S11,660, Cabrini is more expensive than most public universities. Hirsh said the new methods increase the likelihood that a student, who previously would not have considered Cabrini because of the cost, might give it a second thought.

"We feel really good about being able to reach out and attract the type of student we want to." Hirsh said. "We'd like to admit graduates, not just students. We'd like to be able to tell a student, 'We know you can graduate from our institution."'

According to Elizabeth Cairns, director of financial aid, more money is now being offered in academic achievement, which has not been the case in previous years.

"We are devoting more of our resources to students who we feel will be successful here than we have in the past," Cairns said.

Cairns said a student applying to the college submits a financial aid application already knowing how much they will receive in academic aid. Cairns then enhances the package depending on each individual student's financial need.

In keeping with the trend of notifying students of their aid as early as possible, Cairns finds herself mailing out financial need-based packages earlier than ever.

Last year, Cairns began mailing out the financial aid packages on March 1. This year, need-based packages were being mailed back to students by Feb. 1.

"By September of last year, when we had the class set, we had sent out 600 packages," Cairns said. "Right now we have close to 800 packages out on the street."

Cairns did make it clear that upperclassmen will not be directly affected by the change. She said she was well aware of how much aid each class currently receives, and that she has already set that money aside for their use.

The current budget for the financial aid office stands at $4.2 million. Nine years ago, the budget stood at $375,000.

"It's an example of Cabrini committing their resources to the school," Cairns said.