Admissions programs seek solid minority enrollment

Jackson Reeves Guest Writer

Every year, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid reaches out to prospective students with on-campus information sessions and special programs, many of which are part of a larger effort to attract prospective students of color. In addition to the existing recruiting programs, a new chatroom manned by current Vassar students is set to open this month. The chatroom aims to be a place where prospective students can ask questions about college life.

Interest in these programs comes in part as a response to recent statistics that show that the number of self-identifying African American students at Vassar declined by a small percentage this year.

According to Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid David Borus, Vassar is interested in trying new ways to “increase the variety of ways in which [prospective] students are exposed to what [Vassar] has to offer.” The College already has visiting programs like FOCUS Weekend, phone-a-thons, and presentations at high schools throughout the year.

The percentage of self-identifying non-white students increased from the last academic year, rising from 25.6 percent in 2006 to 25.7 percent in 2007, according to Vassar’s annual statistics. These numbers are up almost three percentage points from 1998, when the percentage of non-white students was 22.9 percent, the lowest in the past decade.

Borus said that the recent percentage of students identifying as African American had declined this year, which is a part of “year-to-year fluctuations,” and that as the statistics show, “overall minority enrollment at Vassar has not declined.”

Although Vassar’s percentage of students of color is comparable to its peer institutions, some students worry that the Office of Admissions is still not aggressive enough in their searching out of minority students. Angelic Sosa ’08, President of the Black Student Union and a representative of the ALANA center, said, “I came from a primarily Latino and African American prep school in Manhattan, and I never saw any recruitment at my school. I was never invited to a bus trip.”

Another major factor in Vassar’s recruitment and admissions policies comes in the form of financial aid availability. As a need-sensitive school, Borus said that Vassar’s financial aid meets “full need” of all of its students, at least as far as “full need” is defined by a national formula on financial aid. The average financial aid package for the class of 2010 is $28,000, and Vassar spent $25 million on financial aid for this academic year alone. About half of Vassar students have some form of financial aid.
President Catharine Bond Hill, who has studied the effects of financial aid in access to higher education, said, “having adequate financial aid resources going forward” is essential in order “to continue to attract the students we’d like to come to Vassar.”

The issue of minority access to higher education is not specific to Vassar. Lorrette Fisher ’09, a member of the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Committee, explained the issue on a broader level.

“The main problem is that there aren’t enough minorities at colleges in general,” said Fisher. “Vassar at least has a decent percentage of minorities in comparison.” Fisher said that she sees the Equal Opportunity Committee and others like it as a possible means to address this larger social problem.

Additional reporting by John Palmer, Contributing Editor