The Student Union held a town hall meeting in the Hassenfeld Conference Center last Thursday to discuss the recommendations for changes to Brandeis' admission and financial aid policies. According to an Oct. 19 article of the Justice, the recommendation is that applicants to Brandeis University be accepted on a need-blind basis until there are no more funds, in which case the university would review applicants on a need-sensitive basis. Many merit scholarships that the university offers would no longer exist, with the exception of scholarships that are specifically endowed. This change would affect the Class of 2015 and those after it but not earlier classes.

Brandeis is currently need-blind, meaning that an applicant's financial need is not taken into consideration. By contrast, a need-sensitive policy takes financial situations into consideration. Dean of Student Financial Services Peter Giumette, who answered questions at the meeting with Dean of Admissions Mark Spencer, said that the current system is problematic because the University had a limited ability to fund the financial needs of all applicants. In the Oct. 19 issue of The Justice, Prof. Steven Burg (POL) explained that the University currently conducts a system called "gapping," in which the University calculates the estimated need for a student but does not provide the student with the whole amount because of the limited funds.

Giumette explained that on average, Brandeis currently meets about 85 percent of a student's estimated needs. Giumette and Spencer both said that the change in policy would enable the University to meet 100 percent of a student's estimated need rather than just a fraction of it. The deans explained that the school would admit as many students as possible on a need-blind basis before using financial need as a factor for admission.

When drawing a line between students admitted on a need-blind basis and a need-sensitive basis, Spencer confirmed that students would be ranked by desirability, or their chances of acceptance based on academic and extracurricular qualifications. Once the available funds for financial need are exhausted, lower-ranked applicants will be admitted on a need-sensitive basis. This policy would allocate more funds to provide admitted students with aid, rather than admitting more students without the ability to meet 100 percent of their need.

Giumette and Spencer stressed that a student's financial need would become one of multiple criteria that the admissions officers analyze before determining their acceptance. Giumette said that factors include transcript grades, SAT and ACT scores, extracurricular involvement and recommendations of students by teachers and mentors, and he explained that financial need would be added to that list.

Giumette and Spencer also explained the decision to eliminate many scholarships from financial aid awards. This would allocate more funds to be given to students on a need basis in order to meet 100 percent of need for more students. However, Spencer and Giumette said some merit scholarships will still be available. "[Those scholarships] are specifically endowed," said Giumette, "and those will be continued to the extent possible."

According to Giumette, the number of students receiving merit scholarships has declined over the years. In an e-mail to the Justice, Giumette said that the number of merit scholar recipients who enrolled dropped by 60 percent between the Classes of 2013 and 2014. Among the scholarships awarded were Justice Brandeis Scholarships, Presidential Scholarships, Dean's Awards and Merit Trustee Scholarships. "There are very few students in the Class of [2014] that have strict merit scholarships. We've been moving in this direction over the last couple of years," said Giumette.

When asked about the possibility of early decision applicants rising, the deans said that they do not expect that percentage, which they said was about 20 percent of the Class of 2014, to rise significantly. Giumette explained that a student who applies to Brandeis early decision is aware that it is a binding decision, meaning that if accepted, the student must attend Brandeis, and that students who apply early decision generally have lower estimated need than students who apply regular decision.

The town hall meeting was hosted by the Student Union. In an interview with the Justice, Student Union President Daniel Acheampong '11 said that the meeting was held in order to inform students and get them involved in policy change on campus. When asked why the meeting was held a month after the recommendations for the policy change were announced, Acheampong explained that it was a scheduling issue.

"Timing was very difficult," he said. He also said that students wanted to know why these changes were taking place and wanted to create a forum at which students could get answers and be involved.

"It's so important to get student opinions," said Acheampong. "Without including students [in these decisions], it's as if we're building something without the foundation. Students are the foundation of this university, and students are the future." Acheampong promised to keep students informed as news about the policy change progresses.

Many students were able to attend the town hall and have their questions answered by the deans. Adam Garbacz '14, one of those students, said that his main concern about the policy change was a "de facto financial discrimination," meaning that students who had a higher estimated need would not be as likely to be admitted. He said that the town hall meeting cleared up many misconceptions that he had.

"I had heard about [the policy change] from other [students] and thought it was a lot worse," said Benjamin Hill '14. "I think [the school] is trying to make the right decisions.