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2008-01-22 issue:

Removing cost as a barrier

Mennonite higher education may be cheaper than you think.

by J. Daniel hess

Print Article

Note: Because the financial procedures and protocols in our church’s seminaries differ from those in the colleges and universities, they are not covered in this article.

The presidents in Mennonite higher education have said, “We want to remove cost as a barrier for anyone who wishes to be part of our institutions.” What does this statement mean when a college education seems so terribly expensive?



The cost of college: Four years on some college campuses costs well over $100,000. The announced “sticker price” for one year of tuition, room and board at Swarthmore College, an old, prestigious private college in southeastern Pennsylvania founded by the Society of Friends, is $43,542.

According to Kim Clark (U.S. News & World Report), after subtracting out scholarships and tax breaks, students and parents are shelling out an average of $13,727 for tuition, dorm, books and pizza at the typical public university this year.

Concerned parents are aware that the cost of college is rising faster than the cost of living. Why this exceptional escalation? Howard Keim, president of Hesston (Kan.) College, points to four factors.

First, he notes that while salaries have not risen appreciably on his campus, employee benefits and, in particular, health insurance have skyrocketed. Hesston’s health insurance premiums have jumped as much as 15 percent in one year.

Second, Keim identifies technology as a significant cost factor. Ten years ago, colleges proudly showed off any “smart” classroom—one equipped to access the Internet, show videos or Power Point presentations or data bases. Today, most of Hesston’s classrooms are smart. Further, technology has permeated administrative procedures—accounting, admissions, campus email and the like. In the 1980s, one person at Hesston handled such technology. Today there are four full-time employees in IT (information technology).

Third, parents and prospective students bring to campus a much higher expectation for campus buildings, athletic facilities, food and dorm rooms. Where incoming students once arrived with two suitcases, they now pull a trailer onto campus. Meeting these expectations is costly.

Fourth, for Mennonite colleges and other private institutions, the cost is increased to cover many of the expenses that are met in public institutions by federal and state sources.
Mennonite colleges and universities: What then are presidents of Mennonite colleges and universities committing their institutions to? They are not proposing to make a Mennonite education free. Rather they are encouraging collaboration in order to build strong financial aid programs.

Today in Mennonite colleges and universities, 98.67 percent of the students receive some form of financial aid—grants, loans and on-campus work compensation.

Of particular concern to the presidents are families with financial need who can’t possibly pay for a college education. Currently at Mennonite colleges and universities, families who demonstrate the greatest financial need have on average 89 percent of their need met.
The removal of financial barriers is not the presidents’ task alone. They look for cooperation from (1) congregations, (2) donors, (3) families and (4) their own staffs.

The congregation’s opportunity: A financial aid package at just about any public or private college may contain dollars from one or more of the following nine sources:

1. outside scholarships,
2. institutional merit-based scholarships,
3. institutional need-based grants,
4. federal aid,
5. state aid,
6. federally backed need-based student loans,
7. federally backed non-need-based loans,
8. work study,
9. private loans.

One additional and unique source of financial aid, not included in the list above, is called the Church-College Matching Program. When a congregation or area conference offers a scholarship to a member to attend a Mennonite college or university, that Mennonite institution will match the scholarship 1:1 for the first $1,000 and 1:4 above $1,000, up to the full tuition.

This year Goshen (Ind.) College has received $913,173 in church aid, which it has matched with $549,312. “It’s wonderful,” says Judy Moore, director of financial aid. “It can make the difference.”

An Indiana congregation gives up to $5,000 per student. An Ohio congregation now gives $7,000 per student. An Illinois congregation provides help for the full amount of tuition, counting the college/university match.

The donor’s opportunity: Institutional merit-based scholarships and need-based grants come from either operating costs or endowments. Bluffton (Ohio) University, for example, offers scholarships and grants (see box), most of which are dependent upon donors:

Loren Swartzendruber, president of Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va., which has an extensive undergraduate program, graduate programs in four disciplines, a theological seminary and more than 10 special programs, reports an annual budget of $26 million. “Our primary financial challenge is to keep EMU affordable,” he says. To accomplish that goal, he coordinates an effort to raise money for the annual University Fund, for multiple capital projects and to raise the endowment from its current $24 million level. “Every gift given us contributes in some way to affordability.”

The family’s opportunity: The presidents’ promise of accessibility rests upon an assumption that parents and prospective students will do their part. Lawrence Matthews, director of financial aid at Bluffton, describes the “prepared” family as having met four standards.

• It has established a college savings account for each of the children.

• It has encouraged each child to be a good student, to take tough courses, including advanced placement courses.

• It has supported its congregation’s Church-College Matching Program.

• It has educated its children on good and bad debt.

In one of the categories of the financial aid package—general scholarships—families and prospective students must carry the ball. Suzanne Bach, scholarship coordinator at the University of Nevada, Reno, says, “I think the most important thing students need to do is start searching for scholarships early, be organized and know the different deadlines required for the applications so they don’t miss out on opportunities.”

The staffs’ opportunity: College and university staffs are partners in making education accessible and affordable

• by helping make each dollar on campus go as far as possible,

• by accepting with grace salary schedules significantly lower than the national average,

• by designing programs students can complete in four years,

• by giving personal attention to each student

• and by providing expert admissions office and financial aid office personnel.

The financial aid officers carry responsibility to compile financial aid packages. A beginning point for them is FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), a questionnaire completed by the families of prospective students, established by the federal government to determine eligibility of federal aid. States use the same data to determine state aid.

The officers then complete the financial aid package based on availability of institutional funds and the merits or needs of students.

The presidents’ opportunity: The presidents of Mennonite higher education have worked closely with each other through the auspices of Mennonite Education Agency. They may be seen as the conductors of the collaboration described above.

The presidents’ most important task is to promote exceptional instruction, a community of learning, opportunities for spiritual growth, cross-cultural perspectives and encouragement for the development of personal mission. In other words, an excellent education.

Presidents help select their staffs, including the admissions office and financial aid office personnel. They make a powerful impact on the campus environment, including an influence on how funds are spent. Off campus, the presidents not only carry out the diplomatic obligations of a chief executive but also spend considerable time raising funds. Finally, to the point of the promise of accessibility, presidents work diligently with their staffs to assure fairness and equitability in distributing need-based grants.

The private college challenge: As parents are well aware, the announced price of a year at college—colloquially called “the sticker price”—seems outrageously high. But there is a companion colloquialism: “Don’t trust the sticker price.”

For example, here are three sticker prices for tuition from the state of Kansas: Bethel College (Mennonite) $17,800; Hesston College (Mennonite) $17,140; Kansas State University (public) for in-state students $5,250 and for out-of-state students $14,336.

Doug Penner, president of the Kansas Independent College Association & Fund and former president of Bethel College, North Newton, Kan., directed me to economicdiversity.org, a Web site offering “college-level data for researchers and the public.” There I discovered that in the same year, Kansas State University students left college with a slightly higher college debt than students attending Bethel. “By comparing Kansas publics and Kansas privates, I make the case that our colleges serve ethnic minorities and low-income students at a rate roughly comparable, if not better, than the publics,” says Penner.

What accounts for similar final college debts when public and private universities have such different sticker prices?

1. A student’s choice of housing and meal plan.

2. Every student incurs other costs not shown on a sticker price, ranging from transportation, books, fraternity or sorority fees and extra-cost curricular activities to lifestyle issues, such as wardrobe, sports, electronic equipment, entertainment and hobbies. When one hears of $8,000 student credit-card balances, you know somebody is spending money.

3. Many institutions these days require five years to complete a bachelor’s degree program. The extra year can drive up the ultimate cost of college by 20 to 25 percent.

4. Finally but significantly, the financial aid package.     

The presidents’ promise of accessibility does not erase the likelihood that many students will leave campus on graduation day with an education debt. Families may consider two helpful questions. First, what is the value of the item purchased with the loan? How does one compare a car loan of $25,000 and a loan of $25,000 that pays for excellent teaching, a community of support, spiritual growth, a cross-cultural perspective and the development of a personal mission?

As presidents and their staffs continue to address accessibility, they hope that no member of the church will turn away with the statement, “I couldn’t afford it.”

J. Daniel Hess is a member of Shalom Mennonite Church in Indianapolis.

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