Barnard students, administrators, and staff discussed issues surrounding financial aid over dinner Thursday night at the Student Government Association’s first town hall of the year.

The meeting was intended to open a dialogue on a topic that can be “mysterious,” according to SGA President Eman Bataineh, BC ‘07.

Campus discussion on financial aid increased recently with the University’s move to replace loans with grants for Columbia College and School of Engineering and Applied Science students from families earning under $50,000 per year. The change has left many Barnard students wondering if their school will be next.

Gregory Brown, Barnard’s vice president of finance, and Alison Rabil, the college’s director of financial aid, explained the make-up of Barnard’s budget and the decision-making process for financial aid. Both administrators pointed to the fact that Barnard’s endowment lags behind those of many peer institutions, which restricts the college’s ability to make significant changes in aid policy.

Rabil explained that the elimination of the loan portion of the financial aid packages for low-income students was not a current priority for Barnard.

“We want to distribute aid most equitably within our budgetary constraints,” she said. “We have a responsibility to make sure all admitted students can afford to attend Barnard.”

After a presentation on fundraising by Cameran Mason, Barnard’s vice president for institutional advancement, the floor was opened to students for discussion of how to improve Barnard’s financial aid system.

Several students questioned why Barnard’s endowment was so small. Mason pointed to historical factors, including Barnard’s status as a commuter school throughout much of its history, its lack of extensive financial backing at the time it was founded, and its position as a women’s college.

“I’ve read that women’s colleges don’t raise as much money [as coed schools] because husbands often make the family’s financial decisions,” Thien-Kim Tran, BC ‘10, said at the forum.

Students and administrators discussed ideas on how to encourage greater alumnae donations to Barnard, which would increase the size of the endowment and improve financial aid for all students.

A number of students suggested implementing forums to reconnect alumnae to the college, putting tables in McIntosh where students could write thank you notes to alumnae donors, and encouraging seniors to participate in their class fund.

“Think of Barnard as a gift from one generation to the next,” said Barnard President Judith Shapiro.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 27th, 2006 at 9:49 pm and is filed under Education, Financial Aid. Tags: College, Financial Aid, Grant, Loans, Student. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.