An article last week ("University's admissions policy leads to under-representation of Asian-Americans," March 3) contained a number of inaccuracies and mischaracterizations of the University's admissions policy. The Daily apologizes for the errors.
The article says that the University was unable to "make the leap from 'need-sensitive' to 'need-blind' admissions." Tufts was never planning to adapt a need-blind admissions policy for the class of 2008 and such a change requires substantial planning and financing.
It is incorrect to say that the neediest Asian-Americans were ultimately denied admission; there are many high need Asian-Americans in the class of 2008.
Asian-Americans did not demonstrate significantly more financial need than did the neediest students of other races.
Asian-Americans did not suffer the greatest denial among needy applicants nor bear the brunt of the University's need-sensitive admissions practices. Of those removed from last year's pool of accepted candidates based on need, 59 percent were Caucasian, 24 percent Asian-American and 17 percent African-American or Latino.
Grant aid for the class of 2008 did not hit a new low, as the article said. Instead, it returned to previous funding levels after a one year, experimental spike. The article also said that Tufts had only $8 million to spend on aid, instead of the "usual" $8 million. Tufts has never had $10 million in grant aid available for a first-year class.
The decline in the number of Asian-Americans in the freshman class primarily resulted from an unexpected decline in the number of Asian-Americans who accepted the University's offer of admission, from 28 percent to 22 percent. The number of Asian-Americans in the freshman class would have declined even if the University had not removed any Asian-Americans due to financial constraints.
The article stated that 59 percent of accepted applicants applied for aid and 34 percent of accepted applicants received aid. Instead, 59 of total applicants applied for aid and 34 percent of the entire class received aid.
