According to Vice President of Enrollment Keenyn McFarlane, the number of merit scholarships offered to students has been gradually reduced in recent years and will be further reduced for the Class of 2015. The further reductions are due to the fact that many students offered merit aid in recent years declined attend the University.According to statistics provided by the Office of Enrollment, the number of matriculating students who received merit aid declined by 78 percent from 2006 to 2010.

In an interview with the Justice, McFarlane said that by limiting merit aid funds, the University aims to meet 100 percent of estimated financial needs of more students.

According to McFarlane, the elimination of merit aid due to the declining number of students offered merit scholarships matriculating is independent of the University's new financial aid policy, which states that students will be admitted into the University on a need-blind basis until there are no more available funds to admit students while meeting 100 percent of their need. From then on, applicants would be admitted on a need-sensitive basis, meaning that their financial need would be added to a list of factors that would determine whether or not the student would be accepted into Brandeis.

According to McFarlane, the reduction of merit-based aid has been "ongoing" for "several years." McFarlane said that after reviewing the incoming class each year, the administrators in Enrollment found that they were more "effective" in being able to fund students when money was given in the form of need-based financial aid rather than merit scholarships since the number of students who received merit-based aid and matriculated into Brandeis has declined by 78 percent since 2006. McFarlane said the University also has a higher yield rate of matriculation when need-based aid is given rather than merit scholarships. The number of merit aid offered to accepted students has declined by 16 percent since 2006.

McFarlane said that the reduction of merit aid would allow for a greater focus on the provision of need-based financial aid rather than merit scholarships, which would impose more stringent deadlines on submitting financial aid forms such as the FAFSA and CSS Profile, which are used by the federal government and CollegeBoard to assist universities determine a student's estimated financial need. The dates of the financial aid filing deadlines would not be earlier or later than those of past years, but they would be enforced to ensure that the University can accurately predict the amount of need it can meet for each student.

McFarlane said that giving money in the form of financial aid need rather than merit scholarships would be more in line with the "social justice philosophy" of Brandeis. "We want to be giving out money to those who need it," he said.

McFarlane added that although he wanted both students with merit and students with need to be able to attend the University, he said he hoped that students would "embrace" the values of social justice Brandeis would be trying to promote by allocating more money to students with need.

Additionally, McFarlane also said that he does not believe that the elimination of merit scholarships will affect the competitiveness of students applying to and attending Brandeis. McFarlane said that although the number of students with merit scholarships has declined, the performance of accepted students has not. According to statistics from the Office of Enrollment, the average SAT scores of students accepted in to Brandeis has remained near 1400 on a 1600 scale. The average SAT scores of students who have matriculated have remained in the mid-1300s.

"If students do not get merit aid money, that does not mean that the students aren't meritorious," said McFarlane, explaining that reducing merit aid would not alter the University's admission standards.



-Alana Abramson contributed reporting.