QUESTION #14: I HAVE HEARD ABOUT SOME CHANGE IN HOW WE WILL CHARGE STUDENTS FOR OFF-CAMPUS STUDY BEGINNING NEXT YEAR. IS IT TRUE THAT THE COLLEGE WILL NOW CHARGE GRINNELL TUITION FOR ALL OFF-CAMPUS PROGRAMS? SINCE MOST OFF-CAMPUS PROGRAM FEES ARE LESS THAN GRINNELL COLLEGE TUITION, WON'T THIS COST STUDENTS A LOT MORE AND WHAT WILL THE COLLEGE DO WITH THE PROFITS?
Beginning next year, students going off-campus will pay, as a minimum, Grinnell College tuition for off-campus study programs.
Previously, when students went off-campus, they paid the applicable Off-Campus Study (OCS) program fee, and Grinnell College awarded financial aid. This meant that the College spent a significant amount on financial aid with no revenue to underwrite it. There is no other institution that we could find that meets the demonstrated need of its students and handles the cost of OCS in this way, i.e., full merit and need-based financial aid for all students going abroad with no quota or limit on the number of students who could go off-campus and with no revenue coming back in (i.e., without charging the home institution's tuition). Our old system was very difficult to manage and sustain.
Now, students going off-campus will pay, as a minimum, Grinnell's tuition. The College will award financial aid based on Grinnell tuition plus off-campus living costs for the relevant local area. Any difference between Grinnell tuition and the applicable off-campus program fee, if the fee is lower, will help offset the much larger cost of providing financial aid for students going on off-campus programs.
The Office of Financial Aid will continue to use the same federal and institutional formulas to determine family contribution and need, whether the student is on-campus or on an off-campus study program, unless students choose to attend programs significantly more expensive than Grinnell in which case they will have to borrow or contribute more than they would if they remained on campus. This change will not affect Grinnell-in-London, Grinnell-in-Washington, or consortial ACM programs.
