Financial aid will increase to meet demand

This signifies a 3 to 5 percent increase in financial aid needs from the 2007-08 academic year, when the University awarded $82 million in need-based scholarships.

President Tilghman announced at a faculty meeting last Monday that the increase in financial aid demand would be $2.8 million, but Tuesday’s statement indicates that figure has been revised upward. It is unclear if the additional demand will rise even further.

The requests come at a time of historic economic crisis, which has led “a very significant number of students ... to let us know that the financial circumstances of their families have changed,” President Tilghman said in an interview on Sunday, before the demand estimates had increased.

“We might even see additional calls on financial aid in addition to the ones that we know about already,” she added.

The specific sources of pressure on the financial aid system depend on individual family situations. “The additional funding is going to assist both a larger number of students on aid than anticipated, and to meet increased needs for aid families who have experienced job loss, reduced incomes, and other financial difficulties,” Director of Undergraduate Financial Aid Robin Moscato said in an e-mail.

The University, which implemented a no-loan financial aid policy in 2002, has promised to meet the additional demand. A $5 million surplus from last year’s Annual Giving campaign will cover the increased need, Tilghman said. “[Annual Giving] give[s] the University tremendous flexibility with unexpected events like this one,” she said, touting the benefits of the unrestricted nature of Annual Giving funds.

But Annual Giving is not a perpetual fallback. Depending on the severity and longevity of the economic crisis, Tilghman explained, the University must prepare for the prospect that Annual Giving might not be as successful next year, which would affect how the administration addresses future increases in demand for aid.

“There are a number of sources that we can look to when we know that there will be an increase in financial aid,” Tilghman said. “Annual Giving is one of them, but there are other parts of the operating budget that we can look to ... so we’re not assuming that Annual Giving will exceed its goal for the coming year.”

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University Provost Christopher Eisgruber ’83 also indicated that the University will plan its budget to prepare for future aid request increases.

“We are making adjustments to our construction plans in order to ensure that we have the budgetary strength to sustain the University’s highest priority commitments, including its commitment to financial aid,” he said in an e-mail.

Eisgruber echoed Tilghman in emphasizing that throughout the economic crisis, financial aid remains Princeton’s top priority.

“Princeton will continue to meet the needs of its students so that everyone who earns admission can attend and share fully in the benefits of a Princeton education,” he said.

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Of the $82 million in need-based grants in the 2007-08 school year, roughly $76 million came from University resources like the endowment and programs like Annual Giving. Federal and state programs contributed $2.8 million in scholarships, and $3.2 million came from outside groups. Students on financial aid also earned around $2.2 million from on-campus jobs during the school year.