Many colleges are favoring wealthier applicants this year due to funding cuts and students' swelling financial need, a New York Times article from March 31 stated.
But Director of Admissions Patrick Herring said UF is not one of them.
"We are need-blind and have operated that way forever," Herring said. "We would never look at ability to pay as a criteria for admission."
Although family income is on UF's application, it is not factored into its admission decisions for any applicants including undergraduate, graduate, international and transfer students. Students' financial aid requests are on separate documents that the admissions officers do not see.
Herring said the article "Paying in Full as the Ticket Into Colleges," probably has little truth to it and likely was printed to sell more newspapers.
"That makes good copy, but we have some pretty strict rules in our professional guidelines that preclude that," he said.
UF and other members of the Association of American Universities generally follow a need-blind admissions process, meaning admissions officers are not aware of whether applicants have financial need, Herring said.
The article said some college counselors believe that not indicating financial need on a college application would give the applicant an edge.
UF freshman Mona Sayedul Huq said she thinks that UF might take applicants' financial situations into consideration in its admission decisions. She said the majority of her wealthy friends from high school who got into UF had lower grades and SAT scores than her low-income friends who did not get accepted into UF.
"I do think that there is a very big possibility that UF will accept wealthier students over low-income and more talented students," she said, after noting the possible budget cuts to UF.
To deal with potential cuts in state funding, UF is considering departmental budget cuts and faculty layoffs for the 2009-2010 academic year in anticipation of less state funding. Also, UF is accepting 200 fewer freshmen this year and 4,000 fewer undergraduate students in the next four years.
The article also said some universities are shifting more financial aid to merit aid because needier students on scholarship might pay the college nothing, while wealthier students on scholarship would likely pay some of the tuition. Merit aid is money that goes to qualified but not necessarily needy students.
UF also does not fall into this category. In fact, UF is working to increase its distribution of need-based aid.
Rick Wilder, UF's associate director of financial aid advising and funds management, said UF has never decreased its financial aid, and financial aid would probably increase next year.
"Students need the money to go to school," he said. "Without it, it would prevent needy students from attending the university."
In the 2006-2007 academic year, $124 million of UF students' financial aid was need-based, and $277 million was merit-based, he said. This 1-to-3 ratio has been consistent in the past couple of years, but it could change with UF President Bernie Machen's recent effort to expand UF's Florida Opportunity Scholars Program.
Machen launched a $50 million fundraising campaign in the fall to grow the program, UF spokesman Steve Orlando said. The program pays for living expenses, including rent and food, for students with family incomes of less than $40,000 a year who are the first people in their families to go to college.
There are currently more than 1,000 students in the program. Machen's goal is to add about 400 students to the program, Orlando said.
The University Athletic Association contributes more than $5 million of the $6 million a year put toward the program. Machen declined his $280,000 bonus this year and pledged it to the program.
The percent of Pell Grants given out at UF has increased 18 percent in the past eight years, Orlando said. A Pell Grant is funded by the federal government and is financial aid for low-income students.
