Representatives of the University's admissions office will tour around the country in November with representatives from Harvard University and Princeton University in an effort to recruit students from lower-income backgrounds. According to Assistant Dean of Admissions Valerie Gregory, the new joint program shows a dedication to informing students that selective schools are opening their doors to low-income families. After being asked by Harvard to join the program, the University agreed to partner with two universities offering what some consider to be the best need-based financial aid in the country.
Purpose of the program
The idea of touring to appeal to lower-income students came after all three universities made the decision to drop their early-decision admission programs, which were thought to disadvantage low-income students, according to University spokesperson Carol Wood. The time previously used to review early-decision applications will now be spent touring to recruit students, Wood said.
"This [is] the common thread that all three of our institutions have," Gregory said. "We're the three schools that have made a very public commitment to wanting to have more low-income students take advantage of what we have to offer."
One of the benefits of traveling with the other two prestigious institutions is the ability to reach out to students who normally would not have considered the University but were attracted to the program because of one of the other universities.
"If we go to Los Angeles, Harvard may catch the audience's attention but U.Va. gets the benefit of being in the same room," Gregory said. "That's the biggest benefit."
Warren Thompson, Board of Visitor member and chair of the Special Committee on Diversity, said he believes the program will cause more students to consider the University as a viable option for them.
"We don't want students who are good students but are from lower economic backgrounds to think that the University is off-limits to them," Thompson said. "If they have the ambition to go to the University, then they can."
The universities currently have 21 dates lined up in 19 cities, including Washington, D.C, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles and Shreveport, La. The universities will each give 10-minute presentations, which will be followed by a panel of joint alumni who will answer questions from students and their families.
Wood said the program is intended to highlight the financial aid packages available at each institution.
"It's geared to send the message to students and parents from low-income backgrounds that selective universities are serious about reaching out to them and that we have all committed large funds of financial aid to attracting new students to our University," Wood said.
In search of socioeconomic diversity
In recent years, the University has worked towards achieving more socioeconomic diversity as its student body traditionally has been dominated by middle- and upper-class individuals. Bill Harvey, University chief officer for diversity and equity, noted that the University has a low proportion of students receiving aid when compared to other major public universities.
Yvonne Hubbard, director of student financial services, said the number of students applying to attend institutions of higher education from low-income families and low-middle income families has been declining nationally in the past 10 years.
"People are just scared of what the cost of going to school is," Hubbard said. "There are a lot of highly qualified students in Virginia who don't apply to U.Va. because they either think they can't afford to be here, or it's not the place for them."
The admissions tours are meant to complement the University's AccessUVa program. Created in 2004, it serves as the "financial aid philosophy" of the University, which is based on the belief that a student should have the opportunity to attend a university regardless of his or her financial situation, Hubbard said.
"It's a passionate philosophy and it stems from the president on down," Hubbard said, adding that the program is an attempt to level the playing field so no qualified student has to turn down the University for financial reasons.
The goal of making the admissions process more fair to all is one reason the University removed its early decision process. Students requiring financial aid need to know which aid package they will receive before they make a decision about what school to attend. Students do not know, however, what type of financial aid they will receive before the early decision deadline, Hubbard said.
John Wynne, member of the Board of Visitors' Special Committee on Diversity agreed. "A lot of people who need financial aid do not apply early [because] they don't have all of their offers in front of them," Wynne said.
The creation of AccessUVa followed the Board of Visitors' commitment in 2000 to meet 100 percent of the financial need of a student applying for financial aid, according to Hubbard. Before 2000, the University was only able to meet about 88 percent of students' financial need. Hubbard explained that a student's financial need is calculated using a federal formula that subtracts the amount the student or his family might be able to contribute from the total cost of attendance.
"Since AccessUVa, we are turning the numbers around," Wood said. "There is an increase in the number of low-income students applying to the University."
Part of AccessUVa deals strictly with low-income students, who are 200 percent below the poverty line. These students are given grant packages rather than loans or work-study packages to meet their need.
"National studies and our own personal studies show students from low-income families have trouble paying loans back and likely to turn down offers of admissions," Hubbard said, noting that about 900 low-income students currently attend the University.
Student support
Just as the University hopes its joint program with Harvard and Princeton will educate potential applicants about the University's financial aid programs, the founders of Hoos for Open Access, a new University contracted independent organization, intend to voice the concerns of AccessUVa students to the wider University community in addition to educating potential students about the program, according to founder Josh Mitchell, a second-year College student.
"We felt that there are a lot of students out there who don't know about AccessUVa and that could influence their college decision," he said.
Mitchell said he hopes to have the organization fully developed next semester.
Does the University compare?
While US News & World Report ranked Harvard and Princeton first and second for best value of national universities in its 2008 rankings, the University was ranked 16th. Harvard meets the needs of students with more grants than loans, while Princeton does not give any loans at all, offering only grants.
"It's a little hard to compete with that," Hubbard said.
Only one other public school was ranked ahead of the University in the best value category, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Hubbard added that the University's program is impressive for a public school.
"I have no doubt that we have the best financial aid program in any public institution in the country," Hubbard said.
Harvey added that the public university experience is something the other institutions cannot offer their students.
"Private institutions have more financial resources but that doesn't mean they provide better-quality education," Harvey said. "This experience at the public university ... offers some distinctive characteristics: the honor system and student self-governance. There are things that we have that distinguish us from other institutions."
Wood added that not every student can be offered admission to Harvard or Princeton.
"First the student has to be able to get into the university," Wood said. "Once a student is accepted, then financial aid kicks in."
According to Thompson, the University will benefit from traveling with Harvard and Princeton.
"I think when you're moving up in the ranks and you're continuing trying to improve, you want to be associated with the best," Thompson said. "As we continue to grow our endowment, we will be able to move up in terms of affordability and move up in rankings as well."
Thompson added that the University strives towards all types of diversity, including socioeconomic diversity,
"Our mission of increasing diversity spans everything," Thompson said. "We believe having a student body that reflects the general population will allow students to gain a better understanding of the people they will interact with once they leave with the University. We as a University continue to look upon ourselves as having a mission to serve the Commonwealth of Virginia and the nation"
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