As the University strives to expand upperclassmen's dining choices with the launch of the four-year residential college system, this semester also saw the start of its initiative to provide financial aid for eating club membership. The new policy increases the board allotment for all juniors and seniors and aims to make clubs a more viable option for upperclassmen who might previously have eschewed them as too expensive.
Student reaction to the program has generally been positive, but some say that the aid hike only addresses some of the price disparities between eating clubs and other dining options, while not taking into account any social fees clubs might charge. Others have noted that the administrative web accompanying the new financial offerings can initially be confusing.
Minh Do '10, a student on financial aid, said the fact that eating club social fees aren't covered by the new program will factor into his dining plans for next year. "If financial aid would cover all the fees of a club, I would join a club, but otherwise I would stay with a meal plan because currently I have all of my residential meal plan covered," he said.
USG president Rob Biederman '08 agreed that this can be a concern. "Eating club financial aid doesn't necessarily correct all the financial aid imbalances of the Street," he said.
While eating clubs have long been more expensive than the University-provided eating options, aid was increased by $1,500 this year for all upperclassmen on financial aid, bringing the board allotment to $6,500. The figure was reached by averaging the costs of each of the 10 clubs. Overall, the program adds $2 million to the University's annual financial aid expenditures.
University Executive Vice President Mark Burstein said last year's dining decisions seemed to show an increase in the number of upperclassmen on financial aid in the clubs and the colleges, with fewer upperclassmen choosing to go independent. In a preliminary survey, club membership among students on aid rose by 4 percent between the 2006-07 school year and 2007-08.
"Our goal," Burstein said, "is to eliminate economic concerns as [upperclassmen] choose upperclass dining options."
Terrace Club treasurer Itamar Bar-Zakay '08 said the new system "runs very smoothly," but "some kids don't understand how to make it work. They don't know how to transfer funds from their student accounts." When students make a few phone calls and send a few emails, he said, they can smooth out the snags and collect their extra funds.
The administration worked for two years to implement the new financial aid policy, which grew from clubs' concerns that the four-year residential college system would pull students away from the Street based on financial realities.
Doing the math
The process of calculating aid for a sophomore takes the total amount owed to the University and subtracts the aid credit for the student to arrive at the size at the family contribution. The University charges $33,000 for tuition, $5,980 for room and $5,000 as the allotment for board, also known as meal contracts, as well as class and student government fees. The $5,000 board allotment is the cost of the largest dining service meal plan.
The process differs slightly for juniors and seniors. Tuition, room cost and sundry fees remain the same, but should an upperclassman be in an eating club, the board costs would be zero.
Assuming the family situation remained the same, then the aid credit would be the same as before, plus $1,500 to offset the greater costs of eating clubs. The family payment to the University would decrease by $6,500, opening up funds for the student to pay for some form of eating contract, be it a club, four-year residential college or independent provisions.
"The aid is not directly to the clubs," said Robin Moscato, director of undergraduate financial aid. "The aid is provided to the student through the student accounts."
Students were also offered shared meal contracts this year, splitting their dining between the clubs and a block of 95 dining hall meals. The financial aid worked the same for those students as the others with contracts. They pay their eating clubs, which then transfer funds to the University to account for the shared contract.
In the future, the plan is to increase the additional junior and senior board aid by the percent of increase for the unlimited meal plan.
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