Admissions and Financial Aid Challenges

Billingham College is a prestigious research college with a strong reputation for academic excellence, innovation in learning, and a core focus on serving its community, the state, and the nation. The college also has a core commitment to student access and affordability that, among other approaches, is manifested in a generous financial aid policy. That policy has been extremely successful, resulting in a student body that includes a significant number of Pell Grant recipients, first-generation and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students—reflecting the socioeconomic demographics of the region it serves.

However, as the college leadership looks at the economic demographics of prospective students in the pipeline, both nationally and in the college’s core admissions recruiting areas, the number of students in the K-12 pipeline shows a 10 percent reduction in the coming decade. Further, the percentage of students who will require financial aid is increasing significantly, and there is justifiable concern that the college cannot afford to maintain its financial aid policy in the future without making some difficult choices.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is the board’s role in addressing this situation?
2. What questions should the board be asking the president and relevant administrators?
3. What information does the board need to be of help in the deliberations?
4. Are there some strategies to address this situation that would require board approval?
5. What type of fundraising has been successful in the past to allow student-aid increases? Any major campaigns being planned?
6. Is data available on financial aid spending by comparable institutions in the region, state, or peer institutions nationally?