The University has recently established its latest goal: ensure that every admissions decision is made without regard for a student's ability to pay.
In his 2002 inaugural address, University President Lawrence Bacow said, "We need to ensure that Tufts remains accessible to all and not just the wealthy few. We want to admit students on a truly need-blind basis ..."
Dean of Admissions Lee Coffin said that President Bacow's commitment to achieving need-blind admissions was one of the main objectives set out for him at the beginning of his tenure as Dean.
This goal, however, is easier stated than accomplished. Providing enough endowment resources to provide solid financial aid is "a moving target," Coffin said.
Tufts' financial aid comes from the interest on the University's endowment, an invested sum of money - currently estimated at $752 million - that generates revenue for the University.
Financial aid allocations are an intricate balancing act of dynamic need, fluctuating costs, and many economic constraints.
Tufts' policy is currently need-sensitive, which means that a student's ability to pay may be a factor in the admissions decision.
Tufts' need-sensitivity, however, does not come into play for all students. "From year to year, the percentage of candidates affected by need-sensitive policy is a small group," Coffin said, "But it would be preferable if there was no group evaluated in this manner."
Coffin said that all folders for applicants are initially read without regard for financial aid, at which point each of the files are ranked according to merit.
Coffin said the top-ranked students will be accepted regardless of the financial commitment might require. "If someone is a really superb candidate, it's just a simple 'admit' decision, no matter what the financial need," he said.
The "broad middle" group of applications are then discussed in committee meetings where admissions officers make the decisions on how they want the class to be composed.
Once the financial aid budget is exhausted to provide for the fullest extent of socioeconomic diversity in the class, an applicant's ability to pay may be the deciding factor between two comparable applicants.
"If we were need-blind that part would go away," Coffin said.
Coffin said that some ask why Tufts should raise millions of dollars when the University is already setting records in terms of admissions without having a need-blind policy.
Coffin said he believes the resulting cultural and socioeconomic diversity will enhance the class.
Accordingly, the extent to which the University is need-blind in any given year depends on the budgeting and the resources available in light of present economic conditions.
"When the economy goes south, dollars for aid vanish," said Harris Siegel, director of college counseling at Stuart Country Day School in Princeton, N.J.
The economy "integrally" affects the process and resources available for financial aid. "When the economy is flying, it takes the pressure off," Coffin said. "Needs of families are reduced, donors are more inclined to support us, and we earn more interest from the endowment."
For example, when the economy takes a turn for the worse, families' needs will increase and resources will be less.
The skyrocketing cost of higher education also complicates the picture of fulfilling financial need for students. "Technology is expensive, as are repairs and upgrades for classrooms and dormitories in older buildings," Coffin said.
Schools must also provide for faculty and staff salaries and benefits, which may be supremely difficult when the local cost of living and cost of healthcare are also increasing rapidly.
While coping with all of these economic pressures for incoming students, Tufts must also continue to give aid for the continued need of current students.
"This all conspires to create pressure on the budget side," Coffin said.
The principal obstacle to need-blind status is, not surprisingly, additional money. Need-blind admissions is a major priority for the University's Board of Trustees in the next capital campaign.
Barring a huge donation, Coffin said the process would likely be gradual transition as the endowment resources for financial aid expand over the next several years.
"I suspect it will likely be very quiet transition to a fully need-blind policy," Coffin said. "One year, we'll just be able to go to [Bacow] and say, 'We've done it, we selected the class without considering a family's need. It's not as sexy of a storyline, but as more resources are generated it will gradually shift."
"As costs rise and more families qualify for aid, additional resources will always be required. This is an ongoing commitment for the University," Coffin said.
According to Heather McDonnell, director of financial aid at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., need-blind admissions used to be a nearly universal practice.
Financial aid decisions were considerably easier. "Originally all financial aid was done need-blind," she said. "There were just fewer financial aid students. It was relatively easy - you had a pot of money, and you just gave it to your 10 [financial aid] kids."
Financial aid has since become tremendously more complex. In the early 1990s, Coffin said, a lagging economy and the rising cost of education first acquainted many schools with the economic pressures that drive financial aid today. Many schools forced to adopt a need-sensitive policy at this time.
"Financial aid became part of the way they selected a class," Coffin said. "The dollars to be need-blind just weren't there."
Presently, a need-sensitive policy is also a competitive disadvantage among institutions who vie for similar students. "The top schools with whom Tufts competes for accepted students are all need-blind," he said.
According to Coffin, Tufts' top competitors are Brown, Penn, Yale, Harvard, and Georgetown. Brown is the most recent to become need-blind.
All of the Ivy League schools are need-blind, as are some comparable schools in the New England Small College Athletic Conference - of which Tufts is a member - including Wesleyan and Amherst Colleges.
"Princeton has been need-blind for as long as anyone here can remember," said Don Betterton, director of financial aid at Princeton.
According to McDonnell, Tufts is a "deep-pocket school" when compared to comparable, yet smaller, colleges.
"[At Sarah Lawrence], we have a very small endowment, so I look at every dollar that goes across my desk as a precious gem," McDonnell said. Although Tufts' endowment may lag behind its direct competitors, then, Tufts is still very competitive in terms of its resources and its applicant pool on the national level.
Pressures in financing education fall not only on institutions, but on families as well. "From a [guidance] counselor's perspective, we have to get a feeling [each year] from colleges of how they are on [dispensable] aid" with respect to the economy, Siegel said. "We then steer them in the appropriate direction."
