Private universities give record amounts of aid

Private universities are giving record amounts of grant aid to help students with pricey tuition.

In 2008, private universities spent a record amount on grant aid. The tuition discount rate increased from about 39 percent in 2007 to about 43 percent in 2008.

That is a significant increase for universities, said Santiago Merea, a research associate for the National Association of College and University and Business Officers.

While the organization didn’t make any formal predictions, the average increase — 4.4 percent — is higher than expected, Merea said.

Alison Rabil, assistant vice provost and director of financial aid at Duke University, said Duke has provided more aid grants in recent years than in its whole history.

“More students are qualifying for financial aid and for larger amounts. We’ve had more families applying for financial aid in the past few years,” Rabil said.

“In order to assist those that qualify, we’ve streamlined expenses as much as possible, as we have no plans to stop financial aid anytime in the near future.”

Now the average financial aid package at Duke totals $30,000 in discounts during the course of four years.

The size of the average discount only increased within the past two years. From 2005 to 2007, financial aid packages remained steady.

At Davidson College, David Gelinas, senior associate dean and director of financial aid, said that the number of students eligible for need-based aid increased 4 percent from 2008 to 2009.

Forty-four percent of students were eligible for need-based aid, and the average award was $30,715, Gelinas said.

The number of students who feel that their financial aid package is adequate is at its highest point, Gelinas said.

 However, some are still not completely satisfied.

“You have one set of families who say that they’re getting sufficient assistance but others who feel that it has not changed. On the aggregate, it is at the highest it’s been,” he said.

“Reflective to our commitment to socioeconomic diversity and changing financial status of our applicants’ families, Davidson will offer financial aid as needed,” he said.



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