Despite a Nov. 9 article in the New York Times claiming UW-Madison received unusually low federal aid from the federal government, representatives of the university say the figure used in the paper was incorrect and UW-Madison receives aid comparable to many other schools and universities but is still significantly below many Ivy League schools.
The New York Times story cited UW-Madison as receiving only 21 cents per applicant for financial aid compared with Stanford University, which received $211.80.
But according to the UW-Madison director of the Office of Student Financial Services Steve Van Ess, the actual figure for UW-Madison in that year was $3.78. While this figure still may sound low compared to that of Stanford, almost 200 colleges obtained less than $3 per applicant.
\I think we get a fair share,"" Van Ess said. ""There are schools like us that probably get more and there are schools like us that probably get less.""
Van Ess explained the data used in the story was taken from a year in which UW-Madison changed the way it accepted federal contributions to the Perkins Loan program. UW-Madison used to file for funds jointly with UW-Green Bay, but during the 2000-'01 academic year it separated from the other school.
""Since the amount we were given was relatively small, we just gave it to Green Bay,"" Van Ess said.
Later in the year the government gave UW-Madison an extra $3,600 and so it appeared the university had only that much money for 17,000 recipients. Under these figures, the amount per student comes out to 21 cents.
UW-Madison also has a large amount of money in its Perkins Loan portfolio that it is able to continually loan out to students.
""In that program we are collecting $15 million a year which we use to give out to students again,"" Van Ess said. ""Our Perkins loan portfolio, at least according to a 2001 study, was the fourth largest in the country.""
For UW-Madison senior Leslie Fitzsimmons the relative lack of funds compared to Ivy League schools has not been a problem.
""[The university] saw that I had the financial need for it from what my parents made, so they recognized that,"" Fitzsimmons said.
However, Van Ess pointed to a larger problem beyond that of trying to split up a limited amount of funds. He said instead of worrying too much about each school's share, universities nationwide should be working to increase the total amount the government earmarks for this cause.
This does not mean he will not fight for the university's share, though.
""Certainly we will advocate for our students in a reallocation of the formula to get as much money as possible for our needy students on this campus,"" he said.
