New financial aid plan reads: 'Americans only'

Yale President Richard Levin's, GRD '74, first words about the two financial aid policy changes authorized by the Yale Corporation during their meeting this past weekend were, "We are pleased." Taken together, the two measures—freezing students' self-help contribution to their aid packages and allowing them to count the entirety of outside scholarships toward their self-help—will funnel $2 million more into the domestic financial aid budget. There is no corresponding development in the domain of international financial aid, however. But Levin insisted, regarding funding for international students, "We're not going to rest content with what we have now."

ANDREW HEID/YH For Yale President Richard Levin, GRD '74, improvements in aid for international students lie in the future.

The international student aid system has been static since 1998, when the aid doled out to international students was upped by 50 percent. Prior to doubling, however, the coffers allotted to this group of students held only $1 million, less than four percent of the total financial aid pool, making even a twofold endowment increase seem meager. But scant financial aid isn't a problem with which international students can grapple once they're admitted. Instead, need dictates their chances of becoming Elis in the first place. This is because Yale's need-blind admissions policy does not apply to international students. Hong Kong native Ranjan Goswami, DC '02, finds Yale's handling of international applications sad. "[Yale] should offer admission to anyone who is good enough—money should be no object," he said.

Even for those international students who do manage to be admitted, a mere sprinkle of them are granted financial aid. "I hardly know of any [international students] who get aid," Goswami said. "The majority of us pay full fees." For Goswami, the Yale Corporation's latest slight against financially-strapped international students is emblematic of the Administration's generally apathetic attitude toward international students. "The Yale website has no link with information specific to international students," he said. "And that's really sad because we have many needs and concerns that are different than those of the rest of the student body."

Indeed, international students are sometimes subject to real world problems that have no effect on the domestic Yale student. Even those students who find a way to pay are faced with outside threats to their matriculation status. Never was this more apparent than in the aftermath of the October 1998 Asian stock market collapse, which left a number of Asian students—most of whom were not eligible for financial aid—unable to cover their expenses. And Yale's $1 million budgetary ceiling for international aid at the time made requests for assistance difficult to fulfill. In some cases, the students were told that the waiver they had signed—saying they recognized that they were not eligible for financial support—still applied.

For his part, though, Levin insists that more than enough of the global elite can afford the Yale price tag, especially since the 1998 measures. "We've had increased diversity in terms of economic need and global representation," he said. Goswami vehemently disagrees, pointing to systems like the one at Harvard University—where admission is entirely merit-based for international students—as the only true form of progress. "It's pathetic that instead of setting the standard and being a leader, Yale isn't even following [in the footsteps of Harvard]," he said.

But Goswami and Levin are at least in agreement on how the financial situation of those who have already been admitted can be improved. "Yale has to conduct more aggressive fundraising or budget more of the endowment funds toward international financial aid," Goswami said. India native Vivek Sugavanam, JE '00, echoed Goswani's sentiments, but doubts that Yale will take an active stance. "I would like more, but I have to accept the way things are," he said.

Levin, however, spoke like a man poised for action. "I am seeking to raise more funding [for international students]," he said. Yet Levin admitted that he was unprepared to spend endowment money. Instead, he looked to donors to foot the bill.

Still, Yale Corporation members left the meeting optimistic. "We believe that, with today's announcements, we are ensuring that anyone admitted to Yale will be able to attend," Levin said. Unfortunately, for the time being, some qualified, but needy applicants from outside the U.S. will not be able to become Bulldogs.

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