Vocaboly.com

[Tim McGraw]

http://www.usnews.com@66.250.172.128/usnews/edu/college/ivytuition.html

Although one might think that the Ivy League's move is altruistic, it
has a hidden motive: to up decreasing USNews ranking.

In a long report in today's Boston Globe ("Needy Students Miss Out")
the point is made once more that "as college becomes less affordable
for most Americans, public and private institutions nationwide are
spending more of their money on students with less financial need who
"help bolster the schools' reputation and rankings."

The report says that "the biggest factor driving the aid trend is the
ever-rising competition among schools spurred by the college rankings,
especially US News & World Report, educators say. The rankings rate
schools on the average high school class rank and SAT scores of
entering students, making it crucial for schools to lure high
achievers."

While some schools - notably the Ivies - insist on awarding aid only
on the basis of need, other colleges don't apologise for the new
trend. A Northeastern spokesman says "its part of the competitive
reality we're dealing with."

At George Washington - where 25% of all aid goes to those who don't
qualify on the basis of "need" - the strategy helped increase the
percentage of freshmen in the top 10% of their high school class by
20% between 2000 and 2003 (putting GW just outside the USNews top 50),
the President says, candidly:

"At the point where we have the capacity to attract students with the
magnatism Harvard does, we'll be happy to follow Harvard's policies."

Here's a NY Times article on the same topic, spotlighting the role
"merit aid" played in the rise of WUStL in the rankings. (Rice is also
mentioned as a practicioner of the art!)

http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/605.html

Another interesting one, and if you check the Dept of Ed stats for
these schools, WUST, Vandy, Emory etc the percentage of fed grants is
very low, suggesting an extensively upper middle class student body -
Princeton. Interestingly some of the Ivies Dartmouth and Brown have a
more economically diverse student body. Sounds like a successful
formula to rise up the rankings though, especially in the boom years
of the nineties, attract smart rich kids with merit money and then
rake em and their parents for endowment money when they grad. Working
well for these colleges. But I'd take an Ivy over any of em, it's
still Washington what? and Emory Where? and Vanderbilt Isn't that down
South somewhere? They're just not the complete package.