Financial Aid

I've just finished awarding $10 million in financial aid to students who otherwise couldn't afford to attend Johns Hopkins University. You'd think that would be a tremendously gratifying moment, an opportunity to reflect with satisfaction on the good we're doing for people who really deserve it. And it is. But it's also a tremendously frustrating moment. I'm frustrated because there is a large group of deserving people I haven't been able to help. It's tough for financial-aid officers to assist families who have never before sent a student to college.

Financial aid isn't the only way to ease the pain of paying for a college education. Here are a dozen more ideas for making it more affordable. If you are a parent paying the bills, here's what you can do: TALK WITH COLLEGE FINANCIAL-AID OFFICERS. Do this even if you do not qualify for financial aid. The officers want their college to be affordable, so they're on your team. Ask about loans for students who aren't on financial aid. For example, if you live in Pennsylvania, or your son or daughter is attending college in the state, you will learn that qualified families can borrow up to $10,000 a year from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.

Phil and Mary Ann Thomas of Cleveland used to think the IRS was nosy. Then they discovered the University of Pennsylvania's financial-aid office. Their daughter, Kristen, has been accepted into the Class of 2000, and today is the day when she and other prospective Penn students must declare their intentions with a $200 deposit. Just a month ago, Kristen Thomas was dying to find out if Penn wanted her. Now it's the school's admissions officials who sit in suspense. The fall freshman class has 2,350 openings.

Collusion and free agency are part of the everyday language of professional sports. Now they're becoming part of the lexicon of academia. Alleging antitrust violations, the U.S. Justice Department filed suit in Philadelphia last year to block Ivy League schools and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from fixing uniform financial-aid offers to students accepted at more than one of the prestigious schools. Reluctantly, the schools gave in. Constans Salcedo, an 18-year-old Texan, is one of thousands who has benefited since.

Yale University yesterday announced that it was boosting its financial-aid packages for middle-class families, joining a number of top colleges that are increasing grants, eliminating loans, and tinkering with financial-aid formulas to reduce the amount that even well-to-do families are expected to contribute. The Ivy League school is increasing its financial-aid spending by more than $24 million to $80 million annually, reducing the average cost by more than half for families with incomes up to $120,000 and by 33 percent or more for those making between $120,000 to $200,000.

Beefing up a commitment to make a Princeton education more accessible to low- and middle-income students, the university's Board of Trustees yesterday pledged that come September, no undergraduate receiving financial aid will have to take out loans to pay for school. Instead, scholarship money will now cover that portion of a financial-aid package that students previously had to borrow. The new "no-loan" policy, which Princeton officials believe is the first of its kind at a university, was approved unanimously by the board as part of a $5.6 million financial-relief package to be funded by the school's endowment fund.

Traditionally, many of America's private colleges and universities have admitted students based on intellectual merit regardless of their financial situation. Financial aid, on the other hand, has been awarded solely on the basis of need. Now these fundamental principles are under attack. On May 22, Attorney General Dick Thornburgh charged the Ivy League schools and Massachusetts Institute of Technology with violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. According to the attorney general, the exchange of information among schools about financial-aid decisions constitutes a conspiracy to restrain price competition.

Nervous high school seniors start receiving letters from colleges this month telling them if they were accepted and - just as important for most - how much financial aid they qualified for. But some students who need to borrow more money than allowed under federal programs could find it difficult and costly thanks to the continuing repercussions of the subprime-mortgage debacle in the credit markets. Even the surefire, federally subsidized loan market is taking hits. Nineteen companies that specialize in federally guaranteed student loans have pulled out of that market, at least temporarily, according to FinAid Page L.L.C.

Do you dare say "yes" to that college waiting to hear if you, or your child, will join the freshman class this fall? With the deadline approaching, you might be hesitant, terrified by the price tag. Dropping $20,000 to $50,000 a year for anything would be intimidating. But it doesn't have to be. The price might not be as bad as you think. Here's how to know: Is that deal final? Although colleges have sent letters outlining what parents and students are expected to pay, colleges will often sweeten the deal if you ask. So look over the college's offer.

Coatesville High School defensive back Tony Miller, one of the top-rated defensive backs in the nation, faced a tough call. He could stay at home, go to Temple and play ball with his older brother, Dwayne, a cornerback for the resurgent Owls. Or he could strike out on his own and attend the University of Kentucky. To complicate matters, Miller fell short of 700 - the NCAA requirement for freshman eligibility - on his Scholastic Aptitude Test. If his latest results, which are due in two weeks, also fall short, he will have to rely on financial aid, rather than an athletic scholarship, to pay for his first year at school.

For the last five months, six middle-age, out-of-work parents have been cramming their brains with information about medical billing, patient privacy, hardware, software, and customer service. If all goes according to plan, they will graduate in May with four industry certifications and a job offer from one of the many Montgomery County companies in need of their newfound skills - NextGen, Teva Pharmaceuticals, SunGard, Unisys, etc. "If I could just get my foot in the door, I feel like I could show off my talents and work my way up," said Stuart Novey, 48, of Ambler.

The University of Pennsylvania exceeded its recent fund-raising goal by almost $1 billion, bringing in $4.3 billion in its "Making History Campaign," officials announced Thursday. Penn surpassed the $3.5 billion target, announced in 2007, 16 months before the official end of the campaign in December. That's especially noteworthy considering that the campaign was launched just before the country plunged into recession. The university has used the money to increase financial aid, support research and interdisciplinary programming, and boost its endowment.

The University of Pennsylvania exceeded its fundraising goal by almost a billion dollars, bringing in $4.3 billion in its "Making History Campaign," officials announced Thursday. Penn surpassed the $3.5 billion target, announced in 2007, 16 months before the official end of the campaign in December. That's especially noteworthy considering the campaign was launched just before the country plunged into a recession. The university has used the funds to increase financial aid, support research and interdisciplinary programming and boost its endowment.

Swarthmore College will use part of a $20 million gift it received Saturday to provide financial aid to a cadre of "global scholars" from the United States and other countries. The $8 million, which will create the Global Scholars Program, will support students who have both financial need and an interest in global leadership, president Rebecca Chopp said. "Financial aid is a core value for us, and we want to become more of an international school," said Giles "Gil" Kemp, a 1972 alumnus, who along with his wife, Barbara Guss Kemp, made the gift.

Swarthmore College will use part of a $20 million gift it received on Saturday to provide financial aid to a cadre of "global scholars" from both the United States and other countries. The $8 million, which will create the "Global Scholars Program," will support students who have both financial need and an interest in global leadership, President Rebecca Chopp said. "Financial aid is a core value for us, and we want to become more of an international school," said Giles "Gil" Kemp, a 1972 alumnus, who along with his wife, Barbara Guss Kemp, made the gift.

Two people were killed and three wounded Tuesday in shootings at two schools in Kentucky and Missouri. In Hazard, Ky., two people were slain and a juvenile female was critically injured in a parking-lot shooting at Hazard Community and Technical College. Police Chief Minor Allen said the shooting just before 6 p.m. "could be related to a domestic-type situation" unrelated to the school. The victims had not been identified as of 9 p.m., but Allen said those who died were a man in his mid-50s and a woman in her late 20s. The young girl was critically injured and was at the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital.

Enrollment at Community College of Philadelphia fell 4 percent last fall, and officials suspect tightened eligibility guidelines for federal financial aid are to blame in part. Full-time student enrollment on its own took an even bigger hit, dropping 8.3 percent, from 5,540 in fall 2011 to 5,076 last fall. Throughout the region, other community colleges also report dips or flat enrollment, and note that students who in the past would have received aid, known as Pell grants, are going without.

'TIS THE season for stockings, car commercials, wish lists, egg nog and scammers. With the student financial-aid application season beginning soon, state officials are reminding students and families that they may be contacted by individuals or companies via email, social media or traditional mail, offering assistance in securing scholarship money for a fee. Some of the organizations are legitimate; others are not. Families can avoid scams...

SCOTT HARTNELL doesn't need to be on the ice to win. The Flyers forward recently defeated former Flyer James van Riemsdyk - now with the Maple Leafs - in a contest to see who could raise the most money for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. The Power of 2 charity set up the wager in which the duo went head-to-head online. Hartnell raised $22,000 for the Empire State Relief fund, $4,000 more than JVR pulled in for Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund. Because he "lost," JVR will go Christmas shopping for Hartnell at the Mall of America in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

GET READY FOR a media blitz about Philadelphia Catholic schools. Choose My Future, a new archdiocesan marketing campaign, aims to boost enrollment in the 17 Catholic high schools of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia through online and radio advertisements. A newly retooled website also informs potential students. The program is "part of a larger effort to reinvigorate Catholic education and reengage our enthusiastic and devoted alumni by highlighting the individual excellence and collective greatness of the Catholic high schools," said Samuel Casey Carter, chief executive officer of the Faith in the Future Foundation, which provides strategic management for the city's Catholic schools.