BY ALEXANDER ROLLE

In print | Published December 4, 2008 — Updated December 05, 2008 09:39

On Tuesday, Nov. 25, President Al Bloom, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Jim Bock and other members of the administration hosted a forum on Financial Aid. Approximately 30 students attended the event, which took place a few weeks after the student group Swarthmore Financial Justice launched a well-publicized campaign critiquing the administration’s current aid policies.
President Bloom started the event by giving a brief history of financial aid in the American higher education system, emphasizing that its slow but steady progress has gradually made education more accessible to larger parts of society, while admitting that there is still work to be done. Bloom cited Swarthmore’s ability to implement a need-blind admissions process and its recent abolition of the loan component of financial aid as major milestones.

Just prior to this introduction, Bloom reminded the 20 students present in the lecture hall to take advantage of the coffee and doughnuts available at the back of the room in the hope that, by alerting all attendees to the presence of these refreshments, they would be shared equitably. According to Bloom, this same emphasis on an equitable division of resources is a prominent feature of Swarthmore’s aid policy which allocates approximately $20 million in financial aid each year.
Calling the situation of students who cannot return to Swarthmore because of difficulties with their financial aid “heartwrenching,” Bloom emphasized the college’s dedication to fairness in the aid process. Explaining that the need of all families is calculated according to the same principles, he said that it would not be an equitable distribution of resources to give some families more aid than the College’s criteria called for because those families felt that they were unable to pay their calculated parental contribution. Bloom was referring to the handful of students who are unable to return to Swarthmore each year because of financial difficulties, several of whom have openly shared their stories over the course of Swarthmore Financial Justice’s campaign.

According to Asher Sered ’11, a member of Swarthmore Financial Justice, the group’s objective is to convince the administration to revise four key components of its financial aid policy. The first of these changes would increase the length of time that families have to consider their aid packages, making sure that all families have their decisions sent to them by early summer; the second would increase the transparency of the process, making sure that families know exactly how all of their information is factored in to their decisions; the third would give the appeals process a greater ability to change initial administrative decisions and give appealed decisions to another aid officer for review; and the fourth would split money that students earn through scholarships between the college and the student.

In his remarks, Bloom addressed these concerns. Regarding the time that families have to consider their aid packages, Bloom said that all families receive their decision by early June, unless they send their information in late or choose to appeal their decision. Bloom apologized for any decisions that may have been sent out later in the summer and said an effort would be made to ensure it does not happen again.

With regards to the appeals process, Bloom reiterated that the formula used to calculate financial aid awards is qualitative, so an appealed decision rarely comes back with a different award unless the financial aid office is given new or updated information on the family’s financial situation.
At this point, Laura Talbot, Director of Financial Aid, emphasized that anyone who has concerns with his or her financial aid situation can talk with an aid officer, either in person, over the phone or by e-mail.

Contradicting the claims of Swarthmore Financial Justice, Bloom said that scholarship money is split between the students who earned the scholarships and the College, though he did not give specifics on how or in what circumstances that money is shared.

Addressing the issue of transparency, Bloom said that the formula that many colleges, including Swarthmore, use to calculate financial aid is available for inspection. Sered pointed out, however, that while the general formula is available, Swarthmore advertises that they take many other factors into consideration, and the College does not explain exactly how these other factors are included in a financial aid decision.

Regarding the panel itself, Candice Nguyen ’11, a member of Swarthmore Financial Justice who did not speak on behalf of the organization, said there was “a real interest in increasing dialogue between the school and the student body.” She viewed the panel discussion as a positive step, saying that she would “love to see the administration host more panels” because “the more students get a chance to speak out, the more the campus learns” about the financial aid process and the concerns of students.

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