Using Needs-Based Funds to Promote Racial Inclusion, Diversity, and a Balanced Enrollment at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine
*Re-Imagining Financial Aid:
*Rosemary Hilliard
Created for Race & Ethnicity in Education
EDU 6051, SEC 4
Dr. Atira Charles
Northeastern University College of Professional Studies
*Goals
*Demonstrate that minority students, particularly those with foreign-born parents, are placed at a financial disadvantage by our current grant policies
*Demonstrate that by re-aligning our grant policies, we will not be harming current recipients of needs-based funding
*Provide a model for targeting minority students who are ineligible to apply for grant funding with the maximum amount of needs-based funds available
*Evan Thomas & Pat Wingert
(2010)
*"If you look at who enters college, it now looks like [a diverse] America…But if you look at who walks across the stage for a diploma, it's still largely the white, upper-income population."
*Rosa Ramirez (2013)
*“At $22,886, the average amount Latinos borrow is slightly lower than for blacks ($28,692), and white students ($24,742). But many first-generation collegians say their parents, often hoping their children get the education they lack, offer little help in a confusing maze of federal and private loans that are often disguised as opportunity. “
*Equal Justice Works (2013)
*“The [Student Debt Crisis] report states that 27 percent of black bachelor's degree holders had more than $30,500 in loans, compared with 16 percent of white bachelor's degree holders. More black students who left school without finishing a degree cited student debt as the reason than their white peers – 69 percent versus 43 percent – and 74 percent of Latinos who opted out of attending college cited finances as the reason, the report states.”
* Nikki Lowe Lane (2013)
*TUSDM Student Population
*Tufts Dental Class of 2013
*Current Needs-Based Grant
Policy
*Students with US parents (Citizens/Permanent Residents) may apply for the best financial aid, including the Tufts Grant
*Students with foreign-born parents may apply only for federal student loans (no grants available)
*How do we identify
students with foreign-born
parents?
*Perkins Loan
*Low cost, favorable student loan
*Only source of “good” needs-based aid available to students who do not qualify to apply for grant funding
*Awarded to students with $0 in resources and educational debt above the average for their class
*Targeted to absolutely neediest students
*Class of 2013 Perkins
Recipients
*Class of 2014 Perkins
Recipients
*Class of 2015 Perkins
Recipients
*Class of 2016 Perkins
Recipients
*Average of 57% Minority
Recipients of Perkins Loan
*What does this mean for
students with foreign parents?
*How can we target funds to needy minority
students?
*Solution: Target Needy Borrowers
*Lower grant maximum for students with US parents from $12,000 to $10,000
*Use excess funds to create a Minority Student Grant
*MG amounts will be calculated based on amount of accrued interest on a full Grad PLUS Loan
*This award will be given to minority students who qualify for Perkins beginning in their first year.
*Minority students will be eligible to continue to receive this grant so long as they maintain Perkins Loan eligibility.
*Example One (based on 2012-
2013 COA)
*Minority Student
*Eligible for:
*$4,000 Perkins Loan
*$42,722 Direct Unsubsidized Loan
*$50,996 Grad PLUS Loan
*MG = $4,029, replacing Grad PLUS
*Lowers year one borrowing by $4,029, interest over four years by approximately $16,000.
*Example Two (based on 2012-
2013 COA)
*Minority Student
*Eligible for:
*$6,000 merit scholarship
*$42,722 Direct Unsubsidized Loan
*$44,996 Grad PLUS Loan
*MG = $3,555, replacing Grad PLUS
*Lowers year one borrowing by $3,555, interest over four years by approximately $14,000.
*What are our competitors
doing?
*Harvard School of Dental Medicine
*Needs-based grants only available to students with US parents
*Limited Restricted (Endowed) Scholarship opportunities for all students
* Harvard School of Dental Medicine Financial Aid Manual 2011-2012.
*Boston University Henry M.
Goldman School of Dental Medicine
*Need-based grants only available to students with US parents
*Some outside scholarship opportunities available
*What this means for
TUSDM
*Minority student futures at TUSDM
*Ability to attract more minority student applicants
*Lower average debt levels for minority student borrowers
*Lower average debt levels for ALL borrowers
*Only Boston-based dental school offering needs-based grant funding targeted to students with foreign parents
*More competitive option for minority student dentists
*Thank you!
*References
* Boston University Medical Campus Student Financial Services. (2013). Retrieved May 18, 2013 from http://www.bumc.bu.edu/osfs/sdm/application2013-2014/.
* Equal Justice Works. (2013). How Student Debt Affects Women, Minorities. Retrieved May 16, 2013, from http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/student-loan-ranger/2013/05/01/how-student-debt-affects-women-minorities
* Harvard School of Dental Medicine Financial Aid Manual 2011-2012 (n.d.) Retrieved May 16, 2013 from http://hsdm.harvard.edu/file-richtext/FAManual_web_page_1112.pdf.
* Lane, Nikki Lowe. (2013). Multicultural Affairs Initiative to Support Cultural Needs of SDM Community. Retrieved May 16, 2013 from https://northeastern.digication.com/readfile.digi?localfile=Mbab2e4a6e2cd1ce205bd59a52df06ae1&filename=Nikki+Lane+Race+and+Ethnicity+Final+Project+Essay.pdf.
* Ramirez, Rosa. (2013). Minority Students are Saddled by Student Loan Debt. Retrieved May 16, 2013, from http://www.nationaljournal.com/thenextamerica/education/minority-students-are-saddled-by-school-loan-debt-20130130.
* Thomas, Evan; Wingert, Pat. (2010). Minority Report. Retrieved May 16, 2013, from http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/02/18/minority-report.html.
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