<p>As some of you may know, Harvard has decided to use it's endowment to offer very generous financial aid packages to middle to upper-middle class families. Several other universities have recently declared similar policies. Does Northwestern plan on doing this within the next 4 years?</p>
<p>Although NU is about 11 billion dollars short of Harvard's endowment, I'm certain that they will begin to offer better financial aid for the middle-class range, probably not so much the upper-middle class.</p>
<p>Northwestern's endowment is 6 billion. Harvard's Endowment is 34 Billion. Northwestern also has a larger student population. It would be harder for them to give more financial aid while cutting other costs (to keep the books balanced). We shall see. Northwestern should be getting a whole lot more from its alumni.</p>
<p>Northwestern's endowment is now over 7 billion. And a couple of month's ago they announced they were increasing aid in a manner similar to Harvard, Princeton and other elite schools. However, Northwestern was the first major college to base the new aid program on eligibility for Pell grants instead of income (Oberlin was the second). Highlights:</p>
<p>-Starting next fall, about 450 of Northwestern's neediest undergraduates each year—most with annual family incomes of less than $55,000—will have their loans replaced with grants, enabling them to graduate debt-free.</p>
<p>-The scholarships are worth at least $125,000 over four years.</p>
<p>-Under the new program, Northwestern will consider factors beyond family income when deciding which students qualify for the loan-free financial aid packages. The university will take into account other financial pressures, such as a family's extensive medical expenses or families with several siblings in college at the same time.</p>
<p>-An estimated 80 percent of students who qualify for the new program are expected to come from families making less than $55,000 a year.</p>
<p>-Northwestern also will begin to cap the amount of federal loans any student must take out at a total of $20,000 over four years. About 1,000 students will get some relief under the loan-cap program.</p>
<p>-The programs will benefit new and returning students.</p>
<p>-Families still will be expected to contribute to the cost of the education and students will be expected to participate in work-study jobs. The family contribution for students in the no-loan program will be, on average, about $5,000 a year.</p>
<p>The important difference between this and what other schools have announced is illustrated in a portion of Northwestern's press release:</p>
<p>Northwestern is intentionally tying eligibility for its no-loan program to financial need, rather than to a certain level of family income, as many other schools have done. </p>
<p>“We believe that linking our no-loan policy to financial need rather than family income is inherently more fair,” said Michael Mills, associate provost for enrollment management. “There are instances where middle- or even upper-middle-income families have tremendous financial need because of circumstances such as caring for a grandparent, coping with extensive medical expenses, enrolling several children in college simultaneously or other situations. Our new no-loan pledge based on financial need will help these types of families who otherwise wouldn’t qualify under an income-based program.”</p>
<p>Mills estimated that 80 percent of the beneficiaries of the no-loan program will come from families making less than $55,000 annually. The remainder would come from families with greater incomes but with financial circumstances such as those described above. </p>
<p>Northwestern</a> to Replace Student Loans with Grants for Neediest Students</p>
<p>Awesome. It still doesn't affect me, sadly, but it IS way more fair than Harvard's completely arbitrary income-based policy.</p>
<p>Oh really? I went to Wikipedia and it said 7 Billion. Then I went to the Northwestern website and it said 6 billion.</p>
<p>Per Northwestern's press release on President Bienen's retirement anouncement (under "Highlights of Bienen’s presidency include:"):</p>
<p>Northwestern’s endowment has more than quintupled from $1.4 billion in 1995 to more than $7 billion.</p>
<p>Henry</a> Bienen to Retire as Northwestern University President</p>
<p>I didn't realize that Harvards was 34billion, I was thinking more along the lines of 18. Who cares, it is a crap ton of money.</p>