Need-Blind/Pioneer Press/October 18 2004
from the Macalester Public Knowledge Base
All Rights Reserved  The Associated Press State & Local Wire These materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The Associated Press October 18, 2004, Monday, BC cycle SECTION: State and Regional
LENGTH: 411 words
HEADLINE: Macalester reconsidering 'need-blind' admissions policy
DATELINE: ST. PAUL
BODY: Macalester College, bowing to financial constraints, may drop its long-standing pledge to admit any students regardless of their ability to pay the private school's tuition.
The college's alumni board voted to support a recommendation to drop its "need-blind" admissions policy, under which students are accepted without regard to their financial means and then provided the necessary financial support from the school.
The board of trustees is expected to vote on the issue in January.
The change would mean that the liberal arts school would accept fewer students who qualify academically but can't afford the school's $35,000 annual tuition. In their place would be students from families with greater financial means.
The percentage of American students admitted regardless of their ability to pay would drop from about 85 percent of entering students now to roughly 75 percent, officials said. Transfer and international students are admitted by different standards.
Macalester is the only Minnesota college left that admits students regardless of their ability to pay, and the idea of changing the policy is not sitting well with some on campus. More than 120 people attended a campus debate last week to discuss the proposal.
"It is impossible for us to maintain that we are socially and culturally sensitive when our first response to fiscal problems takes the form of a policy that alienates working-class students," sophomore Natalia Espejo argued.
Others said is impossible to maintain the college's quality under the current system.
"If we let quality slip, it will undermine the rationale for access based on social justice," said Martin Gunderson, professor of philosophy and a 1964 Macalester graduate. He served on a committee that examined the issue and made the recommendations.
About 70 percent of Macalester's students receive need-based grants, a much higher proportion of students than at other elite private colleges. Around the nation, Smith, Oberlin and Mount Holyoke have dropped so-called need-blind admissions, as have Minnesota schools Carleton and St. Olaf.
Most of the proceeds from Macalester's endowment go to financial aid - $22 million this year, leaving just $2 million for other costs. Unless policies change, within two years financial aid will eat up all of the endowment's earnings, said President Brian Rosenberg.
---
Information from: Star Tribune, http:// WWW.STARTRIBUNE.COM
LOAD-DATE: October 19, 2004
