University may receive federal funds

The Department of Education unveiled a $2.6 billion plan Friday to support the education of students displaced by Hurricane Katrina. While most funding will go to public school districts that have absorbed an influx of elementary and high school students, the proposal will also give colleges and universities $1,000 for each displaced student accepted this fall.

If the plan is adopted, the University could receive up to $24,000 in compensation for the undergraduate students it has accepted, University spokesperson Cass Cliatt '96 said.

"The details of the proposal at this point are still unclear ... and it's uncertain whether Princeton will get the money," Cliatt said. It remains vague whether the plan also applies to graduate students.

"Whether we get [the money] or not, this is something we're willing to do to help these students," she added.

Cliatt said the National Association of Financial Aid Administrators contacted the undergraduate financial aid office late last week to discuss possible funding.

Any funds allocated by the Department of Education would go toward the University's administrative costs, not the living expenses of the visiting 24 undergraduate and five graduate students, Cliatt said.

"The thinking behind [the proposal], I believe, is that the Department of Education wants to find a way to help the universities that have spent extra long hours ... and additional resources to make these offers to these displaced students," she said.

Visiting students will receive financial aid for room and board based on need, like all University students. Students may supplement their aid packages with on-campus jobs.

The University has said it will not charge tuition to visiting students.

"Princeton has been very clear about saying 'we are waiving your tuition,' " Caleb Dance '06 said. His fall tuition will still go to Tulane University for rebuilding purposes to accelerate its reopening this spring.

Many of Tulane's visiting students plan to return to their college next semester. "I want to graduate from Tulane," Dance said. "While this is an amazing adventure and experience, both academic and social, it's nice to know it's just temporary."

Some visiting students said the University's free tuition and financial assistance have come as a relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding. As far as William Brinda '08 knows, most of his personal belongings were lost in the storm. He came to Princeton from Huntsville, Ala., with his salvaged backpack full of clothes, paper and a calculator, an important item for the biochemistry class he is taking this fall.

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Brinda was forced to leave his possessions in a truck in a Tulane parking garage upon his evacuation.

"So if the truck survived the storm, it may have been looted since," he said.

When he arrived in his Princeton dorm, he found a care package including sheets, a blanket and toiletries waiting for him. The University also booked his plane ticket after learning that he had been on financial aid at Tulane.

The University doesn't typically consider travel expenses a financial need, but "where a need has been identified [among the visiting students], Princeton has stepped forward to help as much as it can," Cliatt said.

To that end, the University will pay the travel and housing expenses of four displaced scholars who will come to Princeton as visiting fellows this fall.

"Honestly, I have not met a single person here who has made me feel like I'm imposing myself on campus ... I'm just a regular student," Dance said. "We aren't a burden; we're sort of an adventure."