Zeppos sheds light on new financial aid plan
Haley Swenson
Issue date: 3/26/08 Section: News/Features
In a January interview with Orbis, then-interim Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos said "keeping Vanderbilt affordable" was among his top priorities as an administrator. After his confirmation as Chancellor at the beginning of March, Zeppos announced that he is currently working on new financial aid packages he hopes will eliminate the need for students to take on debt to pay for their Vanderbilt education. In a recent interview with Orbis, Zeppos revealed details about how these new packages will be funded, as well as what aspects of the plans are still being worked out.
"We are already one of a small number of universities that admit students regardless of their financial situation - called need-blind admissions - and meet their full demonstrated need once they do get in. Now the most important next step for us is to replace student loans with need-based grants in Vanderbilt financial aid award packages. This represents a bold commitment that only a few selective colleges and universities can make. Vanderbilt can and will make this commitment," Zeppos said.
With Zeppos' plans, Vanderbilt joins a pack of elite universities currently taking new steps to make the university experience affordable for a broader base of students.
In December, both Harvard and Yale increased their spending on financial aid significantly. Yale's new plan sought to offer greater assistance to students across the board. Families who earn up to $200,000 and were previously ineligible for aid, now qualify for some assistance. Some critics, however, say that universities should prioritize covering the costs of attending college completely for the lowest-income students before financial aid is expanded to include students from increasingly higher-income families.
Stanford recently announced it would be increasing its financial aid spending as well, claiming its new plan would eliminate tuition costs entirely for students from families making less than $100,000 a year, as well as eliminating room and board costs for students from families making less than $60,000 a year.
"We are already one of a small number of universities that admit students regardless of their financial situation - called need-blind admissions - and meet their full demonstrated need once they do get in. Now the most important next step for us is to replace student loans with need-based grants in Vanderbilt financial aid award packages. This represents a bold commitment that only a few selective colleges and universities can make. Vanderbilt can and will make this commitment," Zeppos said.
With Zeppos' plans, Vanderbilt joins a pack of elite universities currently taking new steps to make the university experience affordable for a broader base of students.
In December, both Harvard and Yale increased their spending on financial aid significantly. Yale's new plan sought to offer greater assistance to students across the board. Families who earn up to $200,000 and were previously ineligible for aid, now qualify for some assistance. Some critics, however, say that universities should prioritize covering the costs of attending college completely for the lowest-income students before financial aid is expanded to include students from increasingly higher-income families.
Stanford recently announced it would be increasing its financial aid spending as well, claiming its new plan would eliminate tuition costs entirely for students from families making less than $100,000 a year, as well as eliminating room and board costs for students from families making less than $60,000 a year.
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