A 12.8 percent increase in next year's financial aid budget will be consumed entirely by economic problems and compensation for reductions in other sources of student assistance.
Tuition next year is planned to increase by five percent, meaning that financial aid must increase by a greater percentage in order to cover the additional students who will receive aid.
The poor economy has also led to greater need among students than in previous years. "This year the need of returning students went up considerably. It is not every student, but when families need more, we will be able to help them," Financial Aid Director Patricia Reilly said.
Economic effects have been compounded by reduction in aid for higher education at both the state and federal level. Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has reduced state aid for public and private schools, including aid for Tufts students. Financial aid will have to replace this reduction with school funds.
"At this point we're trying to keep up with need. It puts pressures on the budget. We haven't seen federal funding increase for a few years, state funding is actually down, and costs are going up," Reilly said.
The economic downturn appears to have had little effect on applications to Tufts, however, as the class of 2007 saw a record number of applicants. But the percentage of students applying for aid increased slightly, according to Reilly.
Where financial aid does play a large role is the number of students who decide to enroll. "It's one of the major factors families look at when making the decision," Reilly said.
Many accepted prospective students said that the amount of aid they receive will determine which university they will choose to attend. Some of their current economic situations, they said, are different from when they applied.
Reilly said that she is aware of the changes in students' lives. "We're finding parents with stagnant incomes facing unemployment," she said.
Keeping pace with the increased need has kept the University from achieving other goals, particularly implementing a need-blind admissions policy. A need-blind admissions process does not factor in a student's financial status when deciding admittance. Only a handful of schools are need-blind.
The difficulty with implementing a need-blind admissions policy is meeting the possible increased need while keeping enrollment rates high.
A need-blind admissions policy was recommended in the Task Force on the Undergraduate Experience's interim report. "Becoming need-blind has been a major focus, but it's also very expensive. We're doing studies now to get a handle on how much it would cost," Reilly said.
The Student Financial Services Office recently finished its search for a financial aid director. Reilly was promoted to director from interim director -- which she had served as since earlier this year.
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