Students on financial aid continue to face excessive burdens in their everyday lives and cumbersome interaction with the administration, despite recent improvements in aid awards and policies, according to a new Duke Student Government report.
Following up on a similar DSG document from July 2000, the report describes the progress made on previous suggestions and outlines recommendations for future changes. Among the policies the report seeks to change are those relating to housing, dining and students' cars. It also asks for more budgetary support for financial aid and greater communication among various University departments.
"We want to make sure when you come to Duke and you're on aid, you have the same access to things as non-aid students," said senior Jimmy Carter, co-chair of the DSG Undergraduate Task Force on Financial Aid. "We're pleased with the progress of the last report, so we hope the administration takes the time to look at this report and offer us any more information they can."
The task force will officially release the 27-page report during today's DSG meeting at 7 p.m. in the Sanford Institute of Public Policy.
Several changes came after the 2000 report, although some were already in progress. Most notably, the Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid has since moved to a larger space, its website has been revamped and its budget has increased each year. About 40 percent of undergraduates receive financial aid.
The new report pays particular attention to the policy of reducing aid for some students who own cars. Currently, the office deducts from a student's aid 35 percent of the car's value, unless the car is worth less than $3,000 or older than five years--down from seven last year. "The car policy restrictions are inherently discriminatory, reinforcing the cleavages between aided and unaided students," the report reads, adding that nine other highly selective universities have no such policy.
In the past, administrators have defended the policy as a way of ensuring students on aid do not bring expensive cars to campus. However, Director of Financial Aid Jim Belvin said the 20-year-old policy may be in need of further review.
"This is something the University will certainly take under advisement," he said. "The car policy has been changed a number of times over the years. Whether it will be changed next year, I'm not sure, but we will certainly consider it."
The report offers several other suggestions for increasing aid and making policies more efficient.
Beginning with the 2003-2004 academic year, housing costs should be made the same regardless of where a student lives, the report says. "The task force firmly believes that one universal housing cost will eliminate financial disparities in housing, providing aided students with the opportunity to select living options free of price differentials," it reads.
Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, has been considering the issue and has not released a decision, but said that costs are likely to become universal.
"My sense is that there's universal appeal. I haven't heard from folks who would object," Moneta said.
The task force also recommended making dining plans more affordable, especially for Central Campus students. Dining Services allows exceptions to the plan for other students in extreme circumstances, but the task force said many Central residents do not want food points and should not be forced to buy a plan.
Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst was out of town Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.
Other task force recommendations addressed the amount of student aid awards and the types of packages they receive. The report lauded Duke for increasing aid in some areas, including, for the first time, aid for two summer terms and for international students.
It requests, however, that financial aid become an even higher priority, with increased awards, higher work-study pay rates and higher cost of living estimates. The report cites Princeton University's decision to replace loans with grants.
Provost Peter Lange said the University has made progress on financial aid, and under an agreement with about 30 other schools, will standardize the process for determining a family's ability to pay.
But he said there is always a balance to be struck between money for financial aid and for other initiatives. He said Duke's relatively low annual endowment spending per student--about seven times lower than Princeton's--precludes the possibility of eliminating loans.
"One of the major concerns we have, probably the leading one, is to assure that our financial aid policy creates a level playing field with our competition, that our students should be able to choose Duke regardless of price," he said. "Our evidence suggests that we're pretty close."
The DSG task force report also calls for increased communication among University services that work with financial aid students. It said, for example, that a closer relationship between the registrar's and bursar's offices could eliminate inconveniences or misunderstandings, like a student's account being blocked, which can prevent class registration.
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