The stresses of the budgetary environment have created an undercurrent of uncertainty and fear throughout Davis, stretching from students who say they can’t afford tuition hikes to financial aid officers overwhelmed by increasing demands on their time. The economic downturn has had a compounding impact on Davis’s financial aid office, which has lost eight positions — a 17 percent staff reduction. The staff cuts come at a time of increasing demand at Davis, where the number of Pell Grant-eligible students climbed from 33 percent to 37 percent in a single year. Katy Maloney, interim director of financial aid at Davis, largely attributes that shift to students’ parents being laid off and other products of the recession.

Read full article [here].
by Jack Stripling, Inside Higher Ed.

Posted: March 17th, 2010, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.