Financial Aid Struggles

Blogged by: Thomas Gillick

The financial crisis is not only hitting Wall Street hard but it is also heavily impacting the higher education system, more specifically financial aid. When the stock market was booming endowments were increasing providing higher education with more financial power. As the market has plunged so has endowments and higher education spending. Schools are less likely to invest large amounts of money in their school. Also schools are cutting back on future projects and jobs. This does not only hurt the student but also hurts the community. Also schools are receiving less and less money from donations and alumni. This could directly affect schools from cutting back on financial aid. Also this could influence who gets accepted and who does not based on their financial needs. The government is also not helping with these financial aid cutbacks. The government is cutting back on financial aid so families and schools are going to have to pay more of the bill. Schools are now looking for the best ways to avoid cutting there financial aid expenses but its hard since most schools rely on their endowments and the way these work is that only so much can be spent at a time. Looking ahead most schools will be cutting their financial hard but also cutting back on improvements and long term projects until the economy bounces back.

Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/business/yourmoney/08shortcuts.html?partner=yahoo
http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/106133/Colleges-Struggle-to-Preserve-Financial-Aid
http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/106068/Best-Values-in-Public-Colleges-for-2008-2009