Financial Aid at Vassar | Going to Vassar for free

Emma White Contributing Editor

While 52.5 percent of Vassar students are on financial aid, over the last year 27 students had their tuition waived to attend the College through an employee benefit program. With a few minor exceptions regarding the status of non-tenure-track faculty, all full-time faculty and administrators are eligible to receive this tuition remission benefit. According to Manager of Benefits Program in the Human Resources Office Leslie Power, any direct member of their family will have their tuition waived if they are apply to Vassar through the normal admissions process and are accepted.

An amount equal to half of Vassar’s tuition (unless total cost of school is less) can be placed towards costs at any undergraduate institution for up to eight semesters, or the equivalent number of trimesters. This money comes from the general operating budget. Based on Vassar tuition for fall 2005, this year’s grant amount is $7,724 per semester. Full-time faculty and administration receive full benefits upon hire while clerical workers are eligible for the same benefits after three years, service workers and security after five.

According to Power, “it’s one kind of benefit that a liberal arts college can offer that a business cannot. It’s something that reinforces the mission of what we do, so to speak.”

In the last fiscal year, fall 2004 to spring 2005, there were a total of 27 students receiving full remission at Vassar and 92 receiving the grant to attend another school. Additionally, through a mini-application to the Dean of Studies office, family members can take a small numner of courses at Vassar for credit at the cost of $25 per course. Last year, there were 28 such “Special Students” through this program. However, if such a student wishes to matriculate to Vassar full time and earn a degree, they must re-apply to the College through the standard admissions process.

While the remissions benefit may seem like a lot of money, it is easily absorbed the institution when compared to the campus’ 11 million budget for health care benefits for employees.

Mike Kennett ’06, son of Professor of Economics David Kennett and Assistant Dean of Studies Susan Correll, chose to come to Vassar willingly. “When you are propositioned with an offer as good as ‘free college,’ it is very hard to turn your back on it. It seemed like the most fiscally responsible thing to do, it just made sense. There are no negatives associated with attending Vassar, and this is one huge positive.”

Kennett admits that his experience of attending an institution where both his parents work has affected his time at Vassar: “as a general rule of thumb, Vassar students don’t run into their mom in the Retreat.” However, he also noted that he wasn’t held back by their presence.

Programs at different schools vary widely. Sam Rosen-Amy ’08 receives a stipend of $900 per semester from Mount Holyoke College, where his father is a professor. As a male, he couldn’t have attended Mt. Holyoke, but noted that he could have gone to another school that is in a consortium with mount Holyoke, i.e. Skidmore, and had tuition waived. “It was weighing on my mind—go to Vassar and be kind of selfish, or go to Skidmore and get basically an equivalant education,” said Rosen-Amy.

Larissa Pahomov ’05 receives a 2/3 remission grant from Bryn Mawr College where her father is a tenured professor of Russian. The stipulations at Bryn Mawr allow for the grant to be made to any undergraduate institution, including attendance at Bryn Mawr. “it didn’t put pressure on me to go to Bryn Mawr—it was like a golden ticket to go wherever I wanted.”