Frequently
Asked Questions about
Wellesley's New Financial Aid Policy
FEBRUARY 2008
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| 1.
What is the purpose of Wellesley’s enhanced financial
aid policy? |
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| Wellesley
is committed to making education affordable to students,
regardless of their families’ financial circumstances.
Considered one of the most socio-economically diverse colleges
in the country, Wellesley has a long tradition of need-blind
admission for U.S. citizens and permanent residents. The
College meets 100% of a student’s demonstrated need;
55% of our students currently receive financial aid. Our
new loan policy is part our long-standing commitment to serving
students and families. |
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| 2.
Who is eligible? |
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| Students
who qualify for financial aid under Wellesley’s institutional
policies on financial aid will be considered under the new
loan policy. |
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| 3.
How will Wellesley’s enhanced financial aid policy
benefit students? |
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| This
enhanced financial aid policy eliminates loans for Wellesley
students who have the greatest financial need and for whom
debt after graduation can be an issue. It lowers loan packages
by one-third for many other students. Specifically, the policy: |
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Eliminates
loans for students with the greatest need, students
from families with calculated incomes under $60,000.
These families have a limited ability to pay Wellesley’s
costs. |
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Lowers
loans by one-third for students from families with
calculated incomes under $100,000. Their packaged loans
total $8,600 over four years. |
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Enables
eligible students from families with higher incomes
to continue to benefit from Wellesley’s standard
low loan package, which sets the packaged four-year
student loan debt at a very manageable level of $12,825. |
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| 4.
Who is eligible to have their loans eliminated or reduced? |
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Any
student who qualifies for aid under Wellesley's institutional
policies is eligible to have her loan eliminated or reduced
if she meets the criteria.
A student is eligible to have her loan eliminated if her family’s
calculated annual income is under $60,000 and parental contributions
are less than $7,000. (In calculating the parental contribution,
Wellesley considers both income and assets, thereby reflecting a
full picture of family finances.) Students in this category will
receive increased Wellesley grant aid – that is, monies that
do not have to be repaid.
A student is eligible to have her loan reduced if her family’s
calculated annual income is under $100,000 and her parental contribution
is less than $28,000. (In calculating the parental contribution,
Wellesley considers both income and assets, thereby reflecting a
full picture of family finances.) Loans for students in this category
total $8,600 over four years. Grant aid makes up for the reduction
in loan amount. |
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| 5.
What if students do not qualify to have their loans eliminated
or reduced? |
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| They
will continue to benefit from Wellesley’s standard
low loan packages, with a four year debt of $12,825. This
amount of debt is low relative to the aid packages of many
colleges and universities. It is, in fact, significantly
lower than the aggregate loan amounts in the federal student
loan programs. |
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| 6.
How does Wellesley calculate parental income? |
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| When
calculating parental income, Wellesley includes both taxed
and untaxed sources of income. Taxed income includes such
sources as earned income, interest income, and income from
dividends. Untaxed income includes yearly contributions into
401/403 plans, cash flows from businesses and rental properties,
corporate profits, and so on. The level of parental income
also includes income from the noncustodial parent if parents
are no longer together. |
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| 7.
Does this initiative mean that, if a student qualifies
to have her loan eliminated, she cannot have loans or will
never have them in her financial aid package? |
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No.
A student may choose to borrow to help with expenses. Typical
situations include the following: a student with a heavy
course load chooses to take a loan instead of Work-Study;
a student studying abroad borrows because she cannot work
abroad. Continuing students who miss renewal deadlines
will have higher loans packaged if they have not requested
extensions. Finally, a student can request a review of
her financial aid offer, and a loan can be part of her
new package.
These situations can also affect the loan amounts for students in
the reduced and standard loan categories. |
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| 8.
How will the new loan policy affect outside scholarships? |
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Wellesley
students who are awarded outside scholarships continue
to receive the fullest possible benefit of these scholarships.
We use outside scholarship aid to reduce the “self-help” portion
of a financial aid package – that is, student loans,
Work-Study, and student contributions from summer earnings,
before making any reduction in grant aid.
Over the summer, students let us know about their outside scholarships
and how they want their self-help reduced. Students with no loans
or reduced loans will have less self-help from which to subtract
the outside scholarships. We will work with them individually to
answer any questions that they might have. |
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| 9.
Will students be in the same loan category in future years? |
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Students
reapply for financial aid each year. Wellesley evaluates
each student’s financial aid application individually,
considering many factors in addition to family income in
determining the level of aid provided. Some of these factors
include a family’s medical expenses, siblings in
college, and regional differences in costs of living.
Depending on a family’s financial circumstances, the financial
aid award may vary from year to year. As a result, the amount of
a student’s loan may vary from year to year. For example, a
student with a reduced loan package may have her loan eliminated
if her family has had financial reversals. If finances improve sufficiently,
the standard loan would be packaged for the upcoming year.
In order to keep as many students as possible in their no-loan or
reduced-loan categories, Wellesley will review the income cut-offs
and parental contribution cut-offs each year. |
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| 10.
Does this policy benefit Davis Degree candidates? |
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| Yes.
Davis Degree candidates who are self-supporting will be
evaluated relative to the new loan policy on the basis
of their income and calculated contribution. |
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| 11.
How does this policy benefit international students? |
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| All
international students who receive financial aid will have
their loans eliminated and replaced with Wellesley grant
aid. There are no stipulations about family incomes or
contributions. This decision recognizes the difficulty
faced by international students who return to their home
countries and must repay a student loan. |
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| 12.
What is the effective date, and are students in all years
of study included? |
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| The
effective date is 2008-2009. Yes, the policy applies to
all students – first-year as well as all returning
students. |
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| 13.
What about students admitted under the Early Decision Plan |
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This
spring, we will re-evaluate the financial aid awards of
Early Decision students (admitted in December 2007 for
enrollment in September 2008) in relation to the actual
cost of attendance for 2008-2009, the 2007 federal income
tax forms, and the new financial aid policy concerning
loan levels. Students admitted under the Early Decision
plan will receive new aid letters for the upcoming year.
If a student qualifies to receive a no loan or reduced
loan package, she will receive it.
Starting in the fall of 2008, we will review all Early Decision aid
admits in relation to the new loan policy when we initially read
the financial aid application. |
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| 14.
What exactly are the loan levels for 2008-09? |
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Eliminated
Loan |
Reduced
loan |
Standard
Loan |
| First
Year |
$0 |
$1,600 |
$2,625 |
| Second
Year |
$0 |
$2,000 |
$3,000 |
| Junior |
$0 |
$2,500 |
$3,500 |
| Senior |
$0 |
$2,500 |
$3,700 |
| Total |
$0 |
$8,600 |
$12,825 |
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| Wellesley
is committed to keeping student loan levels low so that
financial concerns do not limit a student’s choices upon
graduation. Students typically have 10 years to pay off
loans in manageable monthly payments. The loans are either
low interest federal student loans or low interest student
loans from Wellesley College. |
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| 15.
Where can I find additional information about financial
aid? |
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For
information about applying for financial aid, please
go to the Wellesley College Student Financial Services
website. All of the necessary instructions and forms
are available online. See the links to the following
forms below:
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Office
of Admission
Last Modified on
February 13, 2008
Expires on June 1, 2008
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| Details of
Wellesley's New Financial Aid Policy |
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| • |
The
new plan will eliminate loans for students with the greatest
need, those from families with calculated incomes under $60,000. |
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It
will lower loans by one-third for students from families with
calculated incomes between $60,000 and $100,000. Their required
loans will total no more than $8,600 over four years. |
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Students
from families with higher incomes will continue to benefit
from Wellesley’s low loan packages, which cap the four-year
maximum debt at $12,825. |
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As
always, Wellesley will carefully evaluate each student’s
financial aid application individually, considering many factors
in addition to family income in determining the level of aid
provided. Some of these factors include a family’s medical
expenses, siblings in college and regional differences in costs
of living. |
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