In the Carleton budget, financial aid looks like just another line item in a spreadsheet (albeit a large one). But for prospective students, it’s a life-changer.
Or a dealbreaker.
Francisco Castro ’18 (Houston, Tex.) started dreaming of college early. But he started worrying about cost early, too. “A school like Carleton had always been my dream,” Castro says. “I made it a personal goal to get the best education I could ever since I moved to Texas from the Dominican Republic at the age of twelve. However, price tags were scary, and living in a single parent household did not make the prospects of affording any kind of college any easier.”
For Castro, the solution came from the Posse Foundation, which recruits student leaders from public high schools to form supportive multicultural teams. Posses of ten students all attend the same college, where they receive four-year, full-tuition scholarships. Programs like Posse open doors for talented students who would otherwise be unlikely to consider Carleton.
Strengthening the socioeconomic diversity of our student body is a key initiative in Carleton’s strategic plan, which reaffirms our commitment to the core values of our financial aid program:
- Drawing students from all income levels
- Making Carleton as affordable and accessible as possible
- Enabling all students to partake in the full range of opportunities at Carleton
- Keeping faith with enrolled students whose financial circumstances change
- Avoiding saddling our graduates with unrealistic levels of debt
The percentage of low-income (Pell Grant eligible) students at Carleton has remained steady in the past decade, hovering around 11 percent. Over the same period, however, the college has lost ground with middle-class students, who in fall 2014 represented 51% of the student population versus 69% in 2004 “Carleton’s historic position as a leading destination for middle-income students has eroded,” says dean of admissions Paul Thiboutot. With college costs rising nationally while household incomes remain flat, he explains, families need more aid to bridge to the gap. That, in turn, puts pressure on the college’s financial resources.
Thanks to careful financial stewardship and the generosity of our alumni and other donors, Carleton continues to meet 100 percent of demonstrated need for all admitted students. This aid includes not only grants and scholarships but also student employment, which provides real-world work experience in addition to a salary.
Another element of financial aid—student loans—has received intense national scrutiny as the debt load of American college graduates grows. Carleton stacks up well against the national average, notes Rod Oto, director of student financial services. “The average Carleton graduate with loans has about $18,000 in debt, compared to $26,000 nationally,” Oto says. But he would like to see the institution push that number even lower.
“Reducing the average debt to $10,000 to $12,000 would be a meaningful,attainable goal,” Oto says, “and it would go a long way to convincing more families that a Carleton education is accessible.”
Access is the guiding principle behind Carleton’s financial aid philosophy, says President Steve Poskanzer. “Carleton needs to be accessible to students of all different means,” Poskanzer says, “including both low-income and middle-income students, as well as those from families fortunate enough to pay their way without assistance from the College.”
Carleton Financial Aid by the Numbers
- 56% of Carleton students receive grant aid
- 11% are Pell Grant eligible (considered a marker of low income)
- For Class of 2018 students with demonstrated need, the average financial aid award was $42,005.
- Approximately 80% of students accept a work study job as part of their financial aid package
- The average debt for Carleton graduates with loans is $18,302, compared to $26,000 nationally