For many colleges, one of the top goals is recruiting students who can pay more out-of-pocket tuition and use less of the college’s financial aid, according to a survey conducted by Inside Higher Education.

But this trend does not hold true at Syracuse University.

‘Syracuse University is a need-blind admissions college that does not accept students based on their ability to pay the full tuition,’ said Kaye DeVesty, SU director of financial aid.

Along with many institutions across the country, SU bases financial aid packages on two forms students and their families fill out during the application process — the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and the College Scholarship Service Profile, DeVesty said.

Roughly 80 percent of students receive financial aid at SU, with two-thirds of those students receiving SU grants and merit-based scholarships, she said.

The office at SU has instituted a meet-full-need policy in the past three years, DeVesty said. The policy aims to get students the full amount of financial aid they need based on their CSS Profiles and FAFSA forms, she said. This policy has been successful and has eliminated limits on grants and can give away more than $22,000 in grants and scholarships.

But Taylor Cartwright, a freshman public relations major, said she thinks SU fits the mold of the schools detailed in the survey results.

‘I believe I was accepted to SU because of my ability to pay the full tuition,’ she said.

She said when she and her father were getting ready to apply, he told her not to fill out the CSS Profile or FAFSA because he thought it would ‘make her more appealing’ because she would need less financial aid.

A major concern for families during tough economic times, in addition to trying to pay tuition, is about what families will do if a parent loses his or her job. At SU, the Office of Financial Aid wants to be an ‘office of comfort’ for students and parents to come by and ask questions, DeVesty said.

Chancellor Nancy Cantor is also behind this idea that students should feel comfortable talking about their financial aid, DeVesty said. Cantor, along with DeVesty, wants to see a student stay at SU even if an unforeseen consequence arises that hurts his or her financial stability, DeVesty said.

DeVesty said she has seen many parents lose their jobs during their child’s four years at SU, and her main goal is to make sure students get the right amount of aid needed to stay at the university for the full four years.

This practice of need-blind admission is common among other universities in the country and those near Syracuse, including Cornell University.

During the past three years, Cornell has implemented new policies for financial aid evaluation, including a loan initiative in 2008, a parent contribution initiative in 2009 and the award match policy in 2010, said Tom Keane, director of financial aid at Cornell. All have seen success in getting the students the financial aid they need, he said.

He said: ‘Cornell is not likely to admit a full payer over a needy student.’

nrcardon@syr.edu

Published on September 28, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Nick: nrcardon@syr.edu