Student aid fundraising: is it the answer to the loan/grant imbalance? - Special section: the economy

University Business, March, 2002

Dartmouth also makes sure that donors connect the financial aid fundraising to the school's ability to remain a leader in attracting talented and diverse students to campus. "Many of our donors want their gifts go toward diversity programs. And much of our financial aid fundraising appeals to our donors' desires to preserve the institution's leadership position," Furstenberg says.

At Wesleyan, administrators use the media to highlight the priorities of their financial aid fundraising campaign, and connect it to the issue of higher education affordability. That kind of publicity is critical, he says. It's marketing.

"We also market our financial aid initiatives in our admission materials, emphasizing our commitment to need-based aid and to meeting families' full demonstrated need," Harmon says. "We don't think applicants are deciding against Wesleyan on the basis of its financial aid offerings, but these days, we want to avoid a scenario under which they might."--NR