With an estimated total cost of $48,927 for a student to attend Washington University during one academic year, students are scrambling to secure scholarships or funds with low interest rates.
Institutions like Harvard and Yale have eliminated parental contribution for high financial need students. The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Michigan State University, Miami University in Ohio, the University of Pennsylvania and Rice University have removed loans from the financial aid packages to entice more low-income students apprehensive of interest rates, according to a U.S. News & World Report article earlier this month.
At this point, the University has not made any official plans to eliminate loans from aid offers. There has also been no discussion of removing the early decision option, said Bill Witbrodt, director of Student Financial Services (SFS).
“We would love to have that policy, and the only thing that’s holding us back is financial considerations,” said Witbrodt.
Last week, Harvard announced it would eliminate early decision and instead process only regular-decision applications in an effort to place high-need students and minorities on a level playing field. Princeton has since followed suit.
Without financial aid, an education at the University for freshman Aleya Broadway would have been impossible. Broadway grew up in a working, middle-class family in Altamont, Kan., a town of 1,500. Altamont’s median household income is $32,431.
Because she was awarded a merit-based John B. Ervin Scholarship, a work-study position and a Pell Grant, a federally-funded grant based solely on financial need, Broadway will graduate with no student loans.
About half of the student body receives financial aid.
Students with financial aid often have student loans. As of Sept. 15, approximately 34 percent of undergraduates had a Stafford Loan, Perkins Loan or both, said Witbrodt.
“The government absorbs the interest both for Stafford and Perkins until after graduation and a student doesn’t need to pay anything until then,” said Witbrodt.
Student Financial Services focuses on the individual’s needs and personal situation when offering need-based scholarships. To determine the amount of financial aid, the University uses a standard form, the College Scholarship Service Profile.
“We try to get the point across to students that they should call the Financial Aid Office to talk over any specific circumstance they may have. If families call us, we can amend the financial aid award,” said Witbrodt.
Beyond scholarships and loans, 1,116 undergraduates have federal work-study job awards.
Sophomore Jacqueline Brixey works around 10 hours each week as a student athletic trainer. Last year, Brixey, a pre-medical student, had a job at the medical school working in a lab.
“The work study provides an opportunity you wouldn’t get normally. As a student, I wouldn’t get to work in a lab – unless it was an internship,” said Brixey, adding that SFS “make it a very simple process.”
Because of her experience at the medical school, Brixey realized she wanted to do clinical medicine.
Even with work study and a scholarship based on her Native-American ethnicity, Brixey will graduate with student loans. “If you’re getting an excellent, private-school education, there’s going to be a way to pay [the loans] back,” said Broadway.