Oregon Public Broadcasting

At a time when students should be thinking about final exams and commencement speeches, they --  and their schools -- are sweating the details of next year’s finances. The downturn has meant a sharp uptick in demand for financial aid. April Baer reports.

Adjusting to the new economic reality means many things to higher education. Even top notch liberal arts schools like Portland’s Reed College are having to dial down some of their expectations -- particularly helping students get in the door.

Here's Reed President Colin Diver.

Colin Diver   “We had a big demand for financial aid this year, and we couldn’t meet it all.”

The college made its admissions plans as usual this year, searching for students who would be a good fit for its rigorous academic program.

While the system’s never been purely blind to financial need, Reed prides itself on getting close. But this year, after the school assessed how much money was needed to help qualifying freshmen make the $40,000 for tuition, it became obvious the numbers weren’t going to work.

Diver says it was necessary to re-calculate the list of students who’d get acceptance letters. That's a typical problem for colleges and universities this year. And, Diver says, that’s not the only recession-related problem.

Colin Diver   “We are worried about what we call "summer melt". Which is--people make a deposit in May or June, but then they don’t show up in August or September.”

Normally, "summer melt" isn’t that big a deal. Some kids always disappear, having chosen other schools or made plans to take a year off. But this fall, Diver says he expects many kids will melt away for more serious economic reasons.

Colin Diver   “Money is tight. ‘My father just lost his job, my mother’s been cut back and put on furlough, our home doesn’t have the equity in it it used to have’ -- whatever.”

College administrators are feeling the  tidal wave of need for financial aid from the leafy, shaded lawns of Reed -- to the noisy Broadway blocks where Portland State University lies.

That’s where senior Cindy Beard is rushing around getting through her last few final exams. She stopped for a moment to talk about the relief of not having to worry about financial aid.

Cindy Beard   “One of my friends I work with, she’s actually not coming back to Portland State this year, for financial reasons. She’s like, 'Without the financial aid, I can’t afford it!’  She’s going back to community college for a while.”

Beard’s made it through on a blend of financial aid and minimum wage work study jobs. 

Cindy Beard: “I worked the cash register, serving food, and here at Portland State, I worked at the Children’s Center, with my pre-schoolers.”

Without that Beard says she never would have graduated. Even so, she’s leaving college with about $15,000 in debt.

The crunch hitting higher education  right now is partly due to a tight budget year, and partly due to a huge demand for degrees --especially in public education.

At Oregon State University, people who couldn't find jobs helped push spring enrollment past last fall’s enrollment for the first time in school history. In Eugene, it’s a similar story.

Elizabeth Bickford   “I’ve talked to more students this spring, having started 10-15 years ago, I’m unemployed I might as well finish my degree.”

Elizabeth Bickford is the director of Student Financial Aid at the University of Oregon, where tuition for one year totals $6500.  She says last year’s freshman class was huge. Now that this year's undergrads are applying for financial aid, Bickford's department is buried in 3500 more applications than 2008.

Schools are doing what they can to meet the demand. Oregon State sent 3000 students to class on a new "Bridge to Success" scholarship program. It covers all tuition and fees for any student who  qualifies for certain state and federal grants.

And Elizabeth Bickford says the U of O can offer  similar assistance--if you qualify.

Elizabeth Bickford: "Someone who doesn’t have a lot of money. It’s all based on need.”

For those facing a drastically different financial picture, due to a recession-related job loss, that may be the best news since the acceptance letter arrived.