The New Plan of Scholarships and Loans

The revised, system of granting scholarship aid and ofmaking loans to undergraduates in need of financialassistance is herewith presented by Professor Neef, directorof Personnel Research at Dartmouth. The College has longprided itself on its democracy, and that its opportunitiesfor education and its advantages of a liberal arts course areopen to the sons of the rich and the poor alike. This newplan of granting monetary aid to students has been adoptedand is put into operation May 1 as a means of givingmaximum assistance to those most worthy to receive it andof making even greater the assurance that all those who arein need of such help will receive full consideration.

THE procedure for the administration of scholarships and loans which will take effect beginning May 1 is the result of investigations which have been pursued during the last two years under the direction of the President of the College. The foundations for determining a more flexible and efficient method of placing college funds at the disposal of undergraduates were laid in a preliminary report and survey submitted by Professors Feldman and Tapley of the Tuck School in March, 1929. This report, with characteristic frankness and thoroughness, discusses not only the inadequacies of the existing system but likewise suggests the lines of thought which should be followed in any attempt to adjust the administration of financial aid to present conditions.

Last year a second committee, consisting of E. G. Bill, M. A. Norton, C. L. Stone, It. C. Strong, and F. J. A. Neef, was instructed to continue the investigations made by Professors Feldman and Tapley, and to outline a workable system for the allotment of the scholarship and loan funds of the College. The trustees concurred in the findings of this Committee and appointed a standing advisory committee on scholarships and loans, with the director of personnel as chairman.

The new procedure is definitely based on the understanding that financial aid is to be awarded only to those men who have exhausted other sources of income, and who are unable to continue their work at Dartmouth without assistance from the College. Scholastic standing, therefore, is not taken as a basis for determining the amount of the assistance, but merely considered a very important factor in judging an applicant's fitness. Whenever possible, arrangements will be made for a personal interview. Every applicant will be required to submit a complete financial statement of his expenditures during the current year and also an estimated budget for the coming year. The amount of the scholarship will be determined at the beginning of each year for the entire year, and a student's income for the second semester will therefore not depend upon his scholastic achievement during the first semester as at present.

Less than half the amount spent annually for scholarships is received from specific scholarship endowments; the remainder is drawn from the general funds of the College. It has therefore become necessary to make some arrangements for the definite repayment of at least part of the monies advanced to undergraduates. Upperclassmen will hereafter be eligible to apply for as much as four hundred dollars; the initial two hundred dollars to be considered a stipend, the remaining amount however, to be repaid at set dates, without interest, not later than five years after graduation. This procedure will establish a revolving fund of considerable size so that within five years we shall be in a very much better position to take care of all legitimate demands.

In order that applicants may have a proper understanding of the procedure at Dartmouth, the following statement will be issued to them:

SCHOLARSHIP AID

In applying for scholarship aid the applicant is requested to give consideration to the following facts:

The man who makes full payment of all tuition charges pays less than half of what it costs the College to provide him with his educational opportunity. An amount greater than he pays inures to his benefit through the income from endowments which have been given to the College for more than a century and a half by benefactors who have wished to provide the privilege of education to their own and later generations. Consequently any man enrolled within the College is the beneficiary from College funds to large extent.

It cannot be emphasized too strongly that the additional aid represented in a scholarship award should not be sought except by those to whom a college education would otherwise be an impossibility. An award of a scholarship to an individual man is not simply an abatement of College charges. It is the application of definitely limited funds to the financial assistance of a necessarily restricted number of students. The award of a certain amount to one man inevitably means that some other man must be denied this amount. Obviously there is a moral obligation upon a student not to request the College to appropriate its funds to his personal use until his possibilities of securing financial support from other sources have been exhausted, or until his own expenditures have been reduced to a basis of reasonable economy.

SAFEGUARD AGAINST EXTRAVAGANCE

It is the responsibility of the College to safeguard the use of its scholarship funds so that the distribution of these shall be to those men less fortunately placed so far as securing financial support from home is concerned or to those more definitely willing to request assistance from the College to such degree only as may be necessary to enable them to carry on their college course without privation or want. In other words, the scholarship funds of the College are designed to relieve financial need among men definitely desirous of the educational advantage which the College offers but not to support financial extravagance.

FRESHMAN SCHOLARSHIPS

Freshman scholarships will ordinarily cover one-half of the tuition, namely two hundred dollars. In addition, there will also be allotted a limited number of scholarships covering the entire tuition.

Entering freshmen may also be candidates for the "Regional Scholarships" which carry a stipend of seven hundred dollars. The procedure to be followed in making application for these scholarships is the same as for any other scholarship; the recipients of "Regional Scholarships" will be selected from the applicants for scholarship aid for freshman year who are residents of the areas specified under the terms of these scholarships. (For description of Regional and other special scholarships, see the current College catalogue.)

Application for scholarship aid for the freshman year may be made after the applicant has been notified that he has been selected for admission to Dartmouth College. Such applications should be made not later than July 1.

UPPER-CLASS SCHOLARSHIPS

Undergraduates in need of aid for the sophomore, junior, or senior year may apply for the amount they consider necessary to balance their budgets for the coming year. After study of the statements submitted, the committee on scholarships and loans will decide the amount that can be granted any individual. If an upper-classman's application is approved, the initial two hundred dollars of the sum granted will be considered a stipend, with only a moral obligation of repayment. The remainder of the sum shall be considered a loan without interest, payable not later than five years after graduation, the exact dates of such repayments to be determined after consultation with the recipient. According to the need of the applicants, upper-class scholarships will therefore vary from two hundred to four hundred dollars. In unusual cases, the committee has authority to make special adjustments.

Upper-class application forms may be procured after May 1. These blanks must be returned not later than May 10.

GENERAL INFORMATION

In reviewing applications, consideration will be given to financial need, to scholastic achievement, and to the applicant's general record, in order to determine how effectively he is taking advantage of his opportunities while in high school or in college.

A scholarship once awarded will be continued throughout the entire year, provided the recipient remains an undergraduate in good standing. Applications for renewal should be filed each spring. Scholarships are granted for an entire year only, and applications can not be considered for the second semester.

At the beginning of each semester, the student will be credited with one-half of his scholarship toward his college bills for that semester.

LOAN FUNDS

The fact that an undergraduate has been granted a scholarship does not debar him from making application for additional aid from any of the loan funds at the disposal of the College. Loan funds are, however, restricted to members of the three upper classes; and only rarely, where the student's calculations have been upset by circumstances beyond his control, is an exception made in favor of a freshman. It is therefore imperative that a freshman on entering Dartmouth should know definitely how he is planning to meet his expenses during the first year.

In order to allow sufficient time for careful consideration, applications for loans should be made not later than three weeks before the date on which obligations are due.

PROF. F. J. A. NEEF