Falling short of grant goals

UNC has prided itself on offering grant aid to students to help them avoid accumulating student debt.

But with shrinking state and University coffers, the University hasn’t been able to meet its traditional goal of grant awards.

The University’s Office of Scholarships and Student Aid aims to meet student financial need with at least 65 percent grants, but in 2012-13, it only lowered that share to 60 percent — offering more loans instead.

The scholarships, awards and student aid committee met Monday to discuss potential changes regarding scholarships and financial aid.

In 2011-12, about 64 percent of UNC undergraduates received some form of financial aid.

Committee members acknowledged the need for alternate revenue sources — including private donations — to fund grants.

Terri Hegeman, director of development for scholarships and admissions in the Office of University Development, attended the meeting.

“I’ve been asked to come up with a budget and some goals for a new campaign that will kick off,” Hegeman said. “The very first pillar for the campaign was the need for need-based scholarships.”

About 33.6 percent of UNC students who graduated in May 2012 have loans — and the average loan amount is $15,664.

Shirley Ort, associate provost and director of scholarships and student aid, said the average indebtedness of 2012 UNC graduates is $7,000 to $8,000 lower than that of graduates from several other public universities.

Only 2 percent of total aid given to undergraduate students comes from work study — much lower than committee members said they would prefer.

Ort said as the cost of tuition rises, there’s a dollar for dollar increase in financial need.

She said the University must find a new revenue source to meet increasing demand for aid.

She added that every time a student fee goes up, the cost is transferred to the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid, as students need more aid to pay the higher fee.

Steve Farmer, vice provost for enrollment and undergraduate admissions, said other universities are recruiting more out-of-state students to advance their academic missions.

Farmer said the University is attractive to prospective students because it offers an experience they think is worth their time.

“If you take the cost out of it, people will choose on their perception of the experience,” Farmer said. “That argues that we should invest in initiatives to further excellence.

“There’s not a student on need-based aid I would swap out for any student in the world — we need to offer them an experience.”

Contact the desk editor at university@dailytarheel.com.