Merit-based finanical aid declining at UA

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Summer Wildcat Phyllis Bolt-Bannister

Paying top dollar for top scholars is the national trend, but the UA is not following it.

The percentage of merit-based financial aid is declining at the University of Arizona, giving those in need a larger percent of the pie. This runs contrary to a recent study that stated schools are using more scholarship money to attract the top students.

"The Student Aid Game" by Martin Shapiro, a University of Southern California professor and Michael McPhearson, the president of Minnesota's Macalester College, was featured in Sunday's New York Times.

UA's Financial Aid Director Phyllis Bolt-Bannister said Tuesday the trend pertained more to private colleges.

Bannister said that during the '96-'97 school year, 58 percent of all financial aid at the UA was given out on the basis of need, up from 41 percent four years earlier.

"The bulk of our financial aid comes from federal money," she said.

Last year, 65 percent of the UA's $200 million financial aid portfolio was federally funded. These loans and grants are allocated through specific guidelines and are almost exclusively need-based.

The report also says that in an effort to become more competitive, colleges are using a "let's make a deal" approach to attract top students, upping scholarship money when a bidding war breaks out.

This approach leaves less money for students with financial need, the report states, because many of the top students come from middle and upper-class families.

Bannister said UA "could [increase an offer] in exceptional situations," but that limited funds make it difficult.

"The number of students we could try to find [additional] funding for," she said, "would be less than 100." She said that the extra money would have to come from department scholarships.

The Arizona Board of Regents will be voting this week on a proposal to increase the number of in-state tuition waivers, earmarking them for top community college students.

Bannister said this will not effect the amount of money available for other UA students because waivers absolve students from tuition, and do not involve the transfer of funds.