The Conservatory Faculty learned Tuesday that the Conservatory will begin enforcing a need-sensitive admissions policy and reduce the amount of financial aid for fiscal year 2000 by $100,000. The College Faculty heard a similar presentation at the end of last semester, when President Nancy Dye called for enforcement of the college's need-sensitive policy.
"When admissions is putting the money out on the street, they have to do it within the boundaries of our limitations," Vice President for Finance Andy Evans said.
The announcement came three weeks after Karen Wolff resigned as dean of the Conservatory. One alleged reason for her resignation was her opposition to a slow-down of financial aid spending.
At the meeting, Vice President for Finance Andy Evans presented a summary of trends in the Conservatory's financial aid budget in recent years.
He said that in fiscal year 1996, the Conservatory had a total of 28 students receiving full scholarships. That number has increased steadily and stands at 60 this year. At the same time, the Conservatory enrolled 152 full-pay students in 1996, but now only has 81.
The ratio of full-pay students to full-scholarship students also stands out. In 1996, there were 5.4 full pay students to every one student paying no tuition. That figure has shrunk to 1.4 students paying full price to every one student on full scholarship.
"This is not a trend that people like me like to see," said Evans.
The increase in financial aid spending and a decreased tuition revenue have combined to hurt the Conservatory financially, Evans said. "We haven't been increasing our net revenue. The net revenue has been going down," he said. Evans said the Conservatory has been asked to cut financial aid spending by $108,000 for next year.
These problems are not isolated to the Conservatory. The college has also seen an increase in financial aid spending over the last four years. This was one cause of overspending in the overall college budget in recent years.
"In a couple of years there were some over expenditures. We have to be more strategic in our spending," Dye said.
The faculty reacted strongly to the presentation. "Why are you telling us this kind of information? We've never been privy to this kind of information before," said Professor of Percussion Michael Rosen. Evans explained that the Conservatory as a whole needs to address these problems. "It needs to be a shared effort," said Evans.
Rosen asked Evans, "What do you want from us? What can we do?"
Evans explained that the change would not mean the Conservatory must turn away the most talented students. Instead, need-sensitive admissions affects marginal students who are deeper down in the talent pool.
"We are only asking to take the one that can afford to pay rather than the one that cannot afford to pay," Evans said. "It's really crass, but that's what we have to do."
Dye anticipated many faculty members' concerns about the impact the change would have on Conservatory admissions. "The admissions directors feel confident in their positions in bringing in excellent students," Dye said. Evans backed this up by stating that the Conservatory was still competitive two years ago when the financial aid spending was more restrained.
Despite the increase in financial aid expenditures, the overall financial health of the College is not a problem, according to Evans. "We do have strong financial health," he said.
The College administration contends that Oberlin is not unique in its financial aid problems. "We are experiencing the same problem as any other college. We don't have enough money for financial aid," said Dye.
Desperately seeking solution: Conservatory Faculty members listen to the reasons they must institute need-sensitive admissions at Tuesday's meeting. (photo by Jake Schlesinger)
Copyright © 1998, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 127, Number 14, February 19, 1998
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