University administrators heard preliminary reports from Board of Visitors consultants this week after the Board called for a comprehensive review of the financial aid system at its September meeting.
The study aims to analyze the AccessUVa structure and the program's finances to create the best model to achieve the University's objectives.
The Board's ad hoc committee in charge of the review hired a consultant from the Arts & Science Group to assist with the analysis.
"The challenge for the consultants will be to balance the University's two competing priorities: the desire to attract and retain a diverse and high-quality student body, and the need to optimize the use of scarce unrestricted resources," University spokesperson Carol Wood said in an email.
AccessUVa personnel are currently working to provide strong aid packages in light of the University's shrinking pool of available funds. The Board's ad hoc committee assesses the situation by surveying students who expressed interest in the University, those who apply and those who matriculate to determine the different factors which contribute to a student's college decisions, Wood said.
Since its creation in February 2004, AccessUVa's budget has grown from about $9 million to about $41 million. While state funding has remained the same, per capita funding has declined, said Christopher Doran, communications manager of Student Financial Services.
"In [the] 2010-11 academic year, 4,702 students (32.8 percent) demonstrated financial need and the average aid package was $17,932," Wood said. "The program's total cost ran to more than $92 million in the current academic year, with institutional funds now covering about $38.3 million - more than double the original expenditures."
As a result of the growth of AccessUVa, the University's Student Financial Services is currently streamlining the process for AccessUVa applications.
"The cost of that process [is] growing and we're finding that it's very important for us to know early on in the year what our expenditure is likely to be," Student Financial Services Director Yvonne Hubbard said. "We have a commitment from the board to fund everyone who applies by the deadline. After the deadline there might not be funds available."
Student Financial Services has introduced an April 30 deadline this year for students applying for an AccessUVa Grant, Federal Work Study, a Perkins Loan, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), need-based endowment funds and state need-based grants.
"[T]he impact to the regular student who completes all required application and document materials and has them to us by April 30, 2012, is zero," Doran said.
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