I am writing to clarify several points raised in the editorial “Aid insufficient” that appeared in the Feb. 4 edition of The Daily. First, the claim that most Northwestern students who borrow federal need-based loans – subsidized Stafford or Perkins loans – will not benefit from capping these loans at $20,000 is patently false. We estimate that 600 NU undergraduates will benefit from the loan cap, while another 600 undergraduates will benefit from our new no loan pledge, in academic year 2008-09 alone. We project these figures will rise over time.

Second, the point raised that the loan cap doesn’t apply to private or non-federal loans, while true, isn’t unique to NU. All private colleges and universities who have taken steps to cap student loans have applied these caps to federal need-based loans exclusively, as they have no real power to prevent students and their parents from securing so-called “alternative” loans.

Third, the claim that the university neglects middle-class students in simply not true. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median family income of all U.S. families in 2007 was $56,194 ($72,881 for families with a head of family 45 to 54 years of age). In the 2007-08 academic year, the median family income of freshmen receiving NU grant aid was $84,000, and nearly half of these students had family income of greater than $90,000. This is hardly neglecting the middle- and even upper-middle class. Finally, the criticism that NU is making a “minimal commitment” in offering the no loan and loan cap programs is misguided. NU committed tens of millions of dollars to endow these programs so that they will be safeguarded into the future and will not be subject to the ups and downs of budget cycles and investment performance.

– Michael Mills

Associate Provost for University Enrollment