The financial aid discount rate will be cut for the next academic year, but university officials said current students shouldn’t feel the pinch.
Chuck Heath, Baker University Board of Trustees finance committee chair, said at Friday’s BOT meeting it’s time to put better controls on the discount rate.
“This has been a longterm, difficult thing to manage,” he said. “Improvement is needed and improvement is manageable.”
The university wants to lower the rate from 60 percent, which was higher than usual for this year’s freshman class, to around 55 percent for the incoming freshman.
“On average, 60 percent of a student’s tuition was paid for last year, either through special scholarships or just waivers through the university,” University President Pat Long said.
“What we would like to see in the discount rate at Baker is to be around 50 percent. So that’s a goal we’ll be working (toward) the next few years.”
Director of Financial Aid Jeanne Mott said Noel-Levitz, a national company that helps universities manage funds and enrollment, is being consulted and looking at past years’ admissions and financial aid data to lower the discount rate.
“The ultimate goal is to assist us in developing strategies for how we distribute our institutional money,” Mott said.
Louise Cummings-Simmons, vice president of enrollment management, said between 85 to 95 percent of students receive some type of Baker-funded aid, which includes participation awards, work-study, scholarships and grants.
She said current students won’t see their rate decrease as long as they meet the requirements of their scholarships.
“We have made commitments and we will certainly honor the commitments we have made,” she said.
Mott said the discount rate is based on students’ Free Application for Federal Student Aid as well as academic profiles, which is why it’s important to fill out the FAFSA by the March 1 priority deadline.
“Part of the whole strategy is to have students benefit from as many of the state and federal programs as they possibly can, and late filers tend not to benefit,” she said.
Mott said many students receive Pell Grants, although more benefit from the Kansas Comprehensive Grant, both of which are going up due to President Barack Obama signing the stimulus bill into law.
“As far as we know right now, the maximum amount for the state grant per student is increasing from $3,000 to $3,500,” Mott said, adding that the Pell Grant will surpass $5,000.
Although a large amount of Baker aid comes from the endowment, which is steadily declining due to the economy, Mott said it’s too soon to predict if the university will be working with fewer funds next year.
Cummings-Simmons said it’s extremely important students get their FAFSA filed on time so their financial aid isn’t in jeopardy.
“Families that typically have not applied for financial aid are going to be applying this year for financial aid because of the way the economy is,” she said.
