Undergraduate Student Access - Cornell University Division of ...

study, and Perkins loans—is distributed. The presentmethodology guarantees funding to institutions(including Cornell) based on the relativeshares of aid that each received in the 1970’s. Criticscharge that this approach underfunds studentswho attend institutions that were founded sincethe 1970’s.• Student Loans – President Bush has also proposedincreasing student loan limits for freshmen from$2,625 to $3,500 and further recommended thatthe total borrowing ceiling for undergraduates beraised from $23,000 to $24,875. To pay for thesechanges, the President would restructure loanconsolidations programs, moving from low fixedrates to variable rates. The two houses of Congresshave agreed that savings from the restructuringof student loan programs could be obtained, buthave differed on what to do with those proceeds.A second loan issue pits advocates of the directstudent-loanprogram against proponents of thetraditional guaranteed-loan programs. The formerbypasses banks and other lending institutions byhaving colleges make loans to students directlySelected Sources of Financial-Aid Support ForU.S. College and University Undergraduates †(in inflation-adjusted, 2003-04 dollars in billions)Inflation-Adjusted Dollars in Billions$60$50$40$30$20$10Federal LoanInstititional GrantFederal GrantFederal Work-Study$064 67 70 73 76 79 82 85 88 91 94 97 00 03Fiscal Year† Data interpolated between 1964-65 and 1969-70.using government assets. Some members of Congresshave argued that increasing the direct lendingprogram could create savings that could beredirected to increase the Pell Grant maximum to$5,050. Contradicting studies have painted directlending as either a boon or a boondoggle, and collegesvary in their enthusiasm for the program.Cornell has a vested interest in the outcome of the2005 reauthorization as federal programs provide28 percent of the total financial aid awarded to theuniversity’s undergraduates, and federal loan programsaccount for 90 percent of the loan component of thatsupport. The 2003-04 National Postsecondary StudentAid Study provides a current picture of financial aid(with comparable Cornell statistics shown in italics):• Three out of four (76 percent) undergraduates who wereenrolled full time for the full academic year in 2003-04received some type of financial aid. The average amountof financial aid received…was $9,900. [At Cornell, 62percent received some type of financial aid, averaging$20,367.]• About one-half of full-time, full-year undergraduatestook out student loans and 62 percent received grants in2003-04. The average amount borrowed…was $6,200.The amount of grant aid received…was $5,600. [AtCornell, 47 percent took out student loans, borrowing anaverage of $7,899. The amount of grant aid received was$14,686.]• Federal Pell Grants were awarded to 27 percent of allundergraduates in 2003-04. …Undergraduates enrolledfull time for the full academic year who were awarded PellGrants received an average grant of $3,100. [At Cornell,16 percent were awarded Pell grants. Grants received averaged$2,825.]• Twelve percent of all undergraduates enrolled in 2003-04received aid through one or more of the federal campusbasedTitle IV aid programs….The average amount offederal campus-based aid received by undergraduatesfrom one or more of these programs was $1,800. [AtCornell, 42 percent received campus-based Title IV aid. Aidreceived averaged $4,208.]• Among all dependent undergraduates who receivedfederal Pell Grants in 2003-04, 84 percent came fromfamilies with incomes under $40,000. [At Cornell, 95percent of dependent undergraduates who received PellGrants came from families with incomes under $40,000.]Financial Aid at CornellUnder Cornell’s current policies, U.S. citizens andpermanent residents are admitted regardless of theirability to pay for the cost of attendance and thenare assisted in meeting that cost upon enrollment.16