Why Cornell Can't Meet All Financial Need With Grants

By CAROLYN (BIDDY) MARTIN

Every year a new generation of students experiences the thrill of admission to college. For many, particularly traditional-age students, going to college brings independence and represents an important rite of passage. It is also, for more and more young Americans, their first encounter with the stark reality of making economic ends meet. Increasingly students are having to help shoulder what their parents cannot carry alonenamely, the cost of tuition, room, and board. Colleges and universities, concerned with equity and diversity in admissions, are also doing more of the heavy lifting themselves, and rightly so.