Monday, July 11, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com University strives to assist students with tuition fees in light of increase 'U' considers various factors when admitting students and awarding aid By BRIENNE PRUSAK and BRANDON SHAW ManagingNews Editor and Daily StaffReporter Following the recent increase in tuition and the release of statistics from the Department of Education listing the Universita as one of the most expensive public institutions in the nation, University officials ensure this will not inhibit the ability for students from all socio- economic backgrounds to matric- ulate at the University. According to University spokes- woman Kelly Cunningham, the increase in tuition was imminent in light of the 15-percent cut to higher education as approved by Republican Governor Rick Snyder. Despite this the University will continue to ensure fairness in the admissions and financial aid pro- cess for students coming from all familial income brackets by pro- viding increased financial aid and opportunities to students in lower income school districts. While the University's net price - the cost of tuition minus finan- cial aid - is $16,888 compared to the average $10,747, accord- ing to the Department of Educa- tion, Cunningham said students are receiving more aid than ever before. The increase in aid can be exhibited through the Univer- sity's Board of Regents recently approved $137 million financial aid fund, one of the largest sums of financial aid among public universities in the country and a 10.9-percent increase in Uni- versity-funded financial aid for the upcoming year, Cunningham explained. Additionally, 71 percent of in-state students receive need- based financial aid and those with household incomes of less than $80,000 pay less to attend the Uni- versity now than they did in 2004, Cunningham said. In an e-mail interview last month, Cunningham wrote the University does its best to mitigate the inherent barriers inhibiting students with financial struggles during the admissions and finan- cial aid processes. "(We can) state unequivocally that (the University) does every- thing possible to ensure accessi- bility for all qualified and highly motivated students," she wrote. "The University is committed to meet the full demonstrated need of all admitted Michigan resi- dents, and provides substantial financial aid to make sure that economic standing is not a barrier to Michigan residents." Cunningham added in addition to offering aid, the University has also invested considerable finan- cial resources in K-12 programs that may foster an interest in attendingthe University. Phillip Bowman, director of the National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University, said there are vast disparities in pro- cesses among public and private universities regarding both high school outreach and admissions programs. "Historically, private schools have admitted students only with many of the critiques that you find in higher education - admit- ting children of the wealthy," Bowman said. "It has become an ongoing challenge for elite public universities, such as the Universi- ty of Michigan, to admit students regardless to their economic back- ground because of the correlation between economic status and preparation to college." Bowman said students in lower income distributions have less access to materials and resources during their K-12 years, which yields a dilemma for universities like Michigan because there is an inherently skewed distribution based on the lower grade point averages and test scores common- ly seen in statistics from students of lower socioeconomic statuses. Bowman, however, explained the University has developed pro- grams and processes to expand the set of outreach and recruit- ment activities to increase enthu- siasm of attending college among students inlower income brackets. He added that examining school size creates a challenge for all admissions committees at pub- lic universities in the country who must give equal opportunity for each student in the state, regard- less of their hometown or school. Furthermore, there are inher- ent hindering factors, Bowman said, because students in smaller schools have less access to the type of college readiness and aca- demic preparation since smaller schools are less likely to offer Advanced Placement courses or have programs that equate to its alternative. Nevertheless, Bowman added it is a two-way dilemma because the larger schools also make it harder to compete. "If most of these students in the larger school have substantially higher GPAs, then their class per- centile is lower, and it becomes more difficult to compare to the smaller school," he said. Bowman also explained there is a growing divide and conflict for top universities attempting to bridge the gap between provid- ing access to higher education and maintaining a high level of com- petitiveness. "I think it is a growing crisis, and that is because of the corre- lation between test scores, col- lege readiness and income and wealth backgrounds of students," he said. "On the other hand, you have a growing need to maintain global competitiveness across this nation." Bowman added it is important for institutions of higher edu- cation to educate the growing percentage of the economically disenfranchised in order for the country to remain competitive. "The country however, I rec- ognize, will not retain its status as a competitive nation unless the country is able to educate a larger percentage of the popula- tion," Bowman said. "Many of whom are from middle and lower income backgrounds who are dis- proportionally getting access to your more elite reasons, largely because they don't have the same access to public universities, but also because they don't have the same type of K-12 preparation." iTe Wtil igan l&ut(V 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com BETHANY BIRON ZACHARYYANCER Editor in Chief Business Manager 734-418-4115 ext. 1251 734-418-4115 ext. 1241 CONTACT INFORMATION Newsroom officehours 7""-76-2459 NewsTips news@michigandaily.com Corrections corrections@michigandaily.com LetterstotheEditor othedaily@michigandaily.com PhotoDepartment tomichiganaly.come ArtsSection arts@michigandaily.com EditorialPage opinion@michadaily.com SportsSection sports@michigandaiy.com Magazine klarecki@michigandaily.com Advertising Phone:734-764-0554 Department disptay@michigandaily.com Classifieds Phone;734-764-0557 Department classiied@michigandaily.com EDITORIAL STAFF Mark Burns Managing Editor Bie Prusak MngngNw Eio bprusak@eihigadailcome Teddy Papes EdiorialPae 5Editor tedapes@miciadaile.,., SephenJ. 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