More Scholarships
is the good news this fall and also still the goal of a financial aid program that combines Dartmouth's self-interest with altruism
PICK any nine men out of the freshman class and chat with each of them for fifteen minutes or so. Talk about their families, their hobbies, their interests, the girl back home or the driving time to Smith and, of course, about why they came to Dartmouth and what they want to make of themselves. Answer their questions about the campus; one of them will probably ask you where the Gym is and another will want to know if Philosophy 5 is "tough." You will know a few of the answers and you can dig out the others.
Each of the freshmen will learn something from you-as a Dartmouth man you soaked up a lot of the College that they are thirsty for. But the really important part of the meetings will be for you. You will shake that last hand, go back to your desk and light a pipe on the thought that Dartmouth is right up to snuff, that the men of Dartmouth are as fine today as they were in your day or any day. I know. I am a freshman adviser and I spent an afternoon a few weeks ago talking with nine men from '57.
Most of them make an immediate favorable impression; from the first confident handshake, their personality tells you that they could have done the amazing multiplicity of things listed on their record cards: football captains, class presidents, musicians, editors, debaters, etc., etc. A few men sit quietly and answer your questions politely but make you reach a bit for their interest.
Joe was that way. (Joe wasn't his name but it will do.) He answered questions about his courses, spoke freely about his secondary school, his basketball playing and debating, but it wasn't until he started talking about his family that he really let himself go. "My father is a machine worker in a tool plant," he said, "and he has put two of us through college and now me; I'm the youngest. My sister's got a job, a good job, on a magazine; my brother is an engineer in Wyoming and I'm going to be a doctor. My father is a poor man but he has given us the sort of family that not many have. We all saved for my education and now I have a scholarship I'm lucky because without it, I just wouldn't be here."
"I would like to meet your folks sometime," I said. "And I would like to have you meet them," he said proudly. "My sister is going to drive them up some weekend and, if you're not busy, I'll bring them around." "I won't be busy," I said.
The next day I checked to see if any of my other advisees are on scholarship. I found that Bill is and that his scholarship is much less than Joe's because his family is able to pay a greater share of his expenses. His father is a tire salesman in Pennsylvania and apparently does quite well with his business but, because of a number of family responsibilities, such as elderly, dependent parents and a daughter in college, he needs some assistance if Bill is to be a Dartmouth student.
This year, 25% of the freshman class is receiving financial aid. This percentage, the highest in the history of the modern College, is the direct result of the awarding of the first Daniel Webster National Scholarships and the outstanding success of the Alumni Fund over the last three years, when $220,000 received beyond the dollar objectives was added to scholarship resources.
The twenty Webster Scholarships were granted to men from sixteen states and the District of Columbia. Websters are awarded as prizes in national competition based upon the applicants' record and promise. The actual amount of aid awarded depends on individual need, and ranges from honorary grants of $100 (there were four this year) to a top of 11,800 per year. The honorary Webster Scholarships recognize the obvious fact that outstanding ability is not related, one way or the other, to a boy's economic situation.
WHERE would Joe and Bill be if Dartmouth hadn't been able to offer them aid and, in that event, who would be at Dartmouth in their places? At a time when financial aid is vitally important to the College and when Dartmouth is spending more for scholarships than at any time in its history, this two-sided question deserves thoughtful discussion. Moreover, it is also fair to ask why the money is being spent and if it is a sound investment. The answer will deal with the three prime considerations in financial aid: fair play, self-interest and altruism.
Boys like Joe and Bill have earned the right to be in college but, without a Dartmouth scholarship, their opportunity might have been cut off at the peak of its development. Our society sends young men to high school from fourteen to eighteen. They are asked only to do their best. Those who do outstandingly well and who wish to attend college have lived up to their part of society's bargain and it seems only fair that they should have the opportunity to continue their education.
On the matter of financial aid and Dartmouth's self-interest, the record is clear. Scholarship holders have always done more than their share to assure the strength of the College. Last year, four out of seven Senior Fellows received financial aid and six out of ten summa cum lauds graduates had Dartmouth scholarships. In recent years, approximately 30% of the Undergraduate Council and Green Key have been scholarship men, whereas the average in their classes has been about 18%. Last year all four officers of the Undergraduate Council, the president of the terfraternity Council, the presidents of the freshman, sophomore, junior and senior classes, and the winner of the Barrett Cup for all-around achievement, who was also the valedictorian of the senior class, all received financial aid.
The diversity of its students is another point of self-interest in financial aid for Dartmouth. The scholarship program contributes to Dartmouth's success in having a student body not only of wide economic diversity but also of fine geographical representation, in keeping with the national character of the College.
From the time that both Indians and white men sat in Dartmouth's classes, its students have exercised the opportunity to step across the artificial barriers that separate men. Now, in an age when "be tolerant" gets about as tired as those poor old phrases in go-second commercials, a college can still operate without self-consciousness. Dartmouth does not have to try to be this, or be that Dartmouth is! This, Dartmouth students come to know just as they learn to respect each other as men engaged in the same search, despite their widely differing backgrounds.
A further point of Dartmouth's self-interest in financial aid concerns the strength of the faculty. To lecture in a classroom before representatives of one particular segment of our society would be to attempt to play a piano where every key strikes the same note. Dartmouth's classes offer a full range of response for its teachers. This well-known fact is in Dartmouth's favor when able young teachers are deciding where to continue their careers.
On a considerably broadened plane of self-interest, it is important for our Nation that its most promising young men tomorrow's leaders should attend col. lege regardless of their ability to pay. More and more we have come to realize that the Nation's leadership on many lev. els is a resource to be carefully and systematically developed.
On the basis of altruism, the heart of any scholarship program is the wish to lend a helping hand to deserving young men. It all started, so the story goes, in 1180 when Dominicus Jocius visited Paris on his way home from a pilgrimage. He was shocked to see the destitute condition of the young men who were studying near Notre Dame; they lacked food, clothing and shelter. In a wish to alleviate their misery, he rented a room in a near-by hotel "forever" and arranged that a monthly stipend be paid to the scholars, thus starting what was probably the first endowed scholarship. The investment of Dominicus Jocius paid off handsomely for humanity: the hotel room near Notre Dame is considered to have been the origin of what is now known to the world as the University of Paris.
TODAY, largely because of a number of men and women who have made gifts and bequests to the College in the spirit of Dominicus Jocius, every student at Dartmouth has at least one-half the cost of his education paid for him. This 50% subsidy really means that every man receives scholarship aid. The total cost for a year at Dartmouth, including everything except transportation, ranges from $1,800 to $2,000. If, however, the tuition were raised to cover the actual cost, many, many more men would be forced to make application for financial aid and Dartmouth would be in danger of pricing its product out of the market.
Financial aid at Dartmouth is administered by the Committee on Scholarships and Loans under the direction of Albert I. Dickerson '30, chairman, and Robert K. Hage '35, executive secretary. They are also the Director and Assistant Director of Admissions respectively and, thus, working under two hats, they may consider the factors in admissions and financial aid which must be weighted on the same scale.
Because need is the basis of awarding financial aid at Dartmouth, no man may be considered for assistance unless he clearly needs it in order to attend college. Men make preliminary application for aid at the time they apply for admission and, once need has been established, the factors considered in the Selective Process of Admission are useful in determining who will receive aid. Thus the men with two hats can take a direct interest in every man who makes application for financial assistance.
Each applicant is asked to submit a budget for the freshman year showing how much he will have on hand to meet expenses and how much assistance he will need. This budget must be accompanied by a detailed statement from his parents. (The average family income for freshmen on aid this year is $5,706.) Applicants for aid receive the decisions regarding both admission and financial aid at the same time. The concurrence of these decisions has been found to be a much more satisfactory procedure than the plan of a few years back when a successful applicant was notified of his admission to Dartmouth and then had to wait for word about his scholarship application before he could be sure it was financially possible for him to be a Dartmouth freshman.
Freshmen on aid may receive both scholarship grants and employment. And they will receive assistance throughout all four college years if their need continues and if they live up to expectations in taking advantage of the opportunities offered by Dartmouth. About one-third of the freshmen on aid work for the Dartmouth Dining Association where they earn their meals by waiting on table or doing kitchen work. Part of this program is supported by the William N. Cohen Fund, created from the bequest of William N. Cohen '79. This bequest, amounting to is the largest ever received by the College and among all the benefactions- to Dartmouth is exceeded only by the gifts of Edward Tuck '62.
Ordinarily, some portion of a man's aid is taken in the form of a loan from his sophomore year on. A watchful eye is kept on this to see that no man will leave college with a great financial burden. The Committee believes that loans are important as part of the aid program from two points of view. In the first place, loans are a satisfactory way of aid than would be possible if outright grants were made in all cases; over $60,000 in loans was granted last year. Secondly, the matter of a man undertaking to bet on himself by going into a sort of partnership with the College is a part of Dartmouth's financial aid philosophy.
Professor Francis J. A. Neef, who retired last year as Chairman of the Committee on Scholarships and Loans, should receive credit for much of the present organization of financial aid at Dartmouth. He played a major role in conceiving and establishing the threefold scholarship, loan and employment program, and administered it from 1927 to 1952.
IN 1927 the College's total scholarship expenditure was $93,524, last year it was 5365,335, and this year approximately $420,000 will be spent. These figures represent real progress. This year, with loans and Dining Association employment included, 21% of the student body is receiving financial aid totaling 1540,000. In addition to this, enterprising students earn an estimated $ 100,000 on jobs around Hanover.
A number of new scholarships have added to the strength of the program since World War II. Among them:
The ERNEST MARTIN HOPKINS WAR MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIPS, providing room, board and tuition, are for the sons of Dartmouth men who gave their lives in World War II. These Scholarships were endowed by Mr. John D. Rockefeller Jr. as a tribute to Mr. Hopkins.
The 25 WHEELOCK SCHOLARSHIPS were established in 1948 and vary in amounts from $100 to §1,000 according to need for "entering freshmen who have given outstanding indication of capacity and desire to make productive use of the varied opportunities offered at Dartmouth."
Two new ALUMNI FUND SCHOLARSHIPS have been created based on an endowment of $30,000 each. The continued success of the Fund may permit two more scholarships to be established in order to have one Alumni Fund Scholar in each undergraduate class.
The ALDEBARAN SCHOLARSHIPS were created by an anonymous alumnus who, as an undergraduate, had to spend every spare minute working in order to make both ends meet. As a result, he had little time for extracurricular activities or other interests. Today, with matters at full circle, he is in a position to be of help to hardworking students to offer them an opportunity that he didn't have.
He named the scholarships for the eye of the bull in the constellation Taurus. This brightest star in the constellation stands for the brightest stars at Dartmouth who can hit the bull's eye. Aldebaran Scholarships free men from the necessity of any work, starting in their junior or senior years. The award hinges not only on proven ability and promise but also on the fact that men must have been working hard to support themselves.
The DANIEL WEBSTER NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS are, of course, the brightest stars among Dartmouth's scholarships and the highest honor the College can pay a member of the entering class. These scholarships will be supported in part by a $1,000,000 gift from an anonymous donor. The attractiveness of the Websters has, even in the first year of their award, caused national interest and besides the twenty recipients of Webster Scholarships in the entering class, we may count several men who are now at Dartmouth because of the interest in the College created by the Webster Scholarships. This interest. is important for workers in Dartmouth's expanding enrollment activity who are endeavoring to acquaint more and better secondary-school boys with Dartmouth's opportunities. The Websters have met a long-standing deficiency and offer enrollment workers "something really important to talk about."
The growth of the financial aid program at Dartmouth has been steady and, with a look at the record, impressive. We are making progress both in increasing the percentage of the student body receiving aid and also in the size of the individual grants. In 1940 the average freshman scholarship was $374; today it is $942, more than making up for inflation.
Like almost any worthwhile activity, however, our financial aid program leaves much to be desired: The impressive gift of $1,000,000 for the Webster Scholarships meets only half the cost of that program. There is, then, in just this one phase of the College's scholarship activity, $1,000,000 in new endowment money needed if general funds are not to be tied up in support of the Websters. With an eye toward progress, the figures for the Class of 1957 make another point:
A total of 995 men applied for financial aid (an increase of 26% over last year); 601. of these men were accepted for admission and 280 were granted aid. There were about 200 other boys who deserved to receive financial assistance but for whom there were no funds.
The facts above speak for themselves. There is certainly progress to be made in backing our financial aid program with adequate resources. The present news, however is that Dartmouth's financial aid situation is the best in history; that Dartmouth men do, indeed, have something to talk about, feeling confident that the College's position has been strengthened considerably. Now, when an alumnus finds a Joe or a Bill or a fine writer, or musician, or a halfback (let's not forget them) he can discuss the many scholarship opportunities at Dartmouth and cap it off with "Have you thought about applying for a Daniel Webster National Scholarship?"
THE COMMITTEE ON SCHOLARSHIPS AND LOANS, responsible for policy and operations of Dartmouth's financial aid program, is made up of (l to r) Prof. Martin L. Lindahl, Dean Stearns Morse, Donald W. Cameron '35, Albert I. Dickerson '30 (chairman), Edward T. Chamberlain Jr. 36, Max A. Norton '19 and Robert K. Hage '35 (executive secretary).
THE BULL'S-EYE BOYS might be the popular designation of these seniors who hold Aldebaran Scholarships. Endowed by an anonymous alumnus, these sizable grants are designed to enable outstanding men with jobs to give up outside work and thus have full time for studies and college life. The scholarships are named for the brightest star in the constellation Taurus the bull's eye and are awarded to men who have shown ability "to hit the mark" in college. The Aldebaran Scholars above, all '54s, are (I to r) Charles R. Ennis, Grand Junction, Colo.; Clinton R. Gaylord, Peoria, Ill.; Thomas J. McCarthy Jr., Geneva, N. Y.; Sinclair H. Hitchings, Southport, Fla.; and Walter L. Clarkson Jr., Fargo, N. D. Frank D. van Aalst '54 of Tacoma, Wash., also is an Aldebaran Scholar. He and Hitchings are Senior Fellows.
