Abigail Miner/The Lantern
Martha Garland, vice provost for Enrollment Services and dean for Undergraduate Education, discusses the possible implications of the current financial crisis on student financial aid.
The Board of Trustees for Academic Affairs and Student Life met Thursday to discuss enrollment projections for the university and, among other issues, the university’s effort to provide financial assistance for students.
Martha Garland, vice provost and dean of enrollment services, reassured the board that student financial aid packages for the current academic year would not be affected by the current economic crisis. However, the future is less secure.
“If this economic crisis lasts a long time and continues to be as serious as it is, [we are] going to face real challenges,” Garland said.
The issue is being compounded by the reluctance of private lenders to provide student loans. The university expects several financial institutions to stop lending money to students by January. As a result, the university anticipates more in-state applicants because of expensive out-of-state tuition costs.
Garland said the university is closely monitoring indicators that reveal how the economic downturn will affect students.
In spite of the economic woes, the university has continued to allocate more money to recruit high-quality students and eventually raise the average ACT score from 27.3 to 28.5.
Joseph Alluto, executive vice president and provost for academic affairs, remained optimistic that increasing the quality of the student body will lead to an increase in the quality of academic programs.
The university will make another financial decision today when the Board of Trustees votes on increasing President E. Gordon Gee’s compensation.
Jason Cocca can be reached at [email protected].
