The Hopkins chapter of the Roosevelt Institution, a new student think tank, sponsored a discussion of financial aid policies and outcomes on Thursday. The event highlighted facts about the trends of aid-giving at Hopkins, many of which the student attendees were initially unaware.
"A Hopkins education is possible regardless of income," Ellen Frishberg, head of the Office of Financial Aid, said. "Families today are paying less of their income to cover their expected family contributions than families of 10 years ago."
Frishberg explained the goals of her office, what financial aid students can apply for, how need is calculated, and displayed the recent trends in student aid. Students at the event expressed the desire for more scholarships, including merit aid and assistance specifically for international students.
"We wanted to create a place where students could openly communicate their thoughts and questions," Laurel Murphy and Thuy Tran said in a joint e-mail response. The two organized the event as representatives of the Hopkins chapter of the Roosevelt Institution, a national student think-tank.
"There definitely could have been a greater attendance. However, the students who came asked great questions and we feel Ellen Frishberg did a great job presenting and addressing all questions. It opened the lines of communication between the Office of Financial Aid and the student population."
The Office of Student Financial Services is responsible for processing all aid for both Homewood schools' undergraduate, graduate and part-time students. Their other important responsibility, according to Frishberg, is building awareness. This includes briefing administrators on financial aid issues to make sure they are constantly aware of the financial needs of students.
According to SFAS statistics, out of 1,154 students in the incoming class of 2005, 558 were awarded financial aid. The median family income of the class was $86,574, and 32 percent of student families had an average income of less than $60,000. The average Hopkins student received a grant or scholarship of $23,000, and graduates from Hopkins with $16,000.
Aid is determined by school costs -- tuition, room and board, books, supplies, personal expenses such as travel, and other miscellaneous fees -- minus expected family contribution. Frishberg said she realizes that often the family contribution seems high, but reminded that "this is an investment. If you want something out of it, you're expected to put something in to it." Family contribution is calculated based on parental and student income and assets, the number of children, and the number of those children who are in college. The contribution does not include the two largest items of monetary value for a family -- the house and retirement funds.
Another responsibility of Student Financial Aid Services is the determining of costs accumulated on campus. This includes determining the average cost of books for students by creating fictional student course loads and seeing what the cost of books would be. The office has also found that it is now nearly just as expensive to live off campus as it is to live on-campus.
Frishberg says that the steady increase in the median family income over the past 10 years is a direct correlation to "sticker shock" -- many families see the cost of a Hopkins education and are unwilling to even have their child apply.
"Many parents do not realize they could pay less than a state school with the financial aid given by a selective school," Tran and Murphy said.
The Roosevelt Institute plans to mostly focus on research and investigation into policies at Hopkins, other institutions, and even Baltimore's school system. Murphy and Tran also expressed interest in holding another forum.
"It's interesting how funding for different programs tied to higher education continue to suffer from budget cuts, and yet there is such an encouraging rally from the government to go to college and seek higher education," they said.
Click here to read the article from The Johns Hopkins News-Letter's website.
