President McPherson initiated a new strategic planning process in 1999. In 2001, the Strategic Directions Committee released "Strategic Directions for Macalester." The committee's recommendations were based on "Core Values" discussions from the 1999-2000 school year. The document identified 10 strategic directions for advancing the college's tradition of excellence while ensuring the college's future. In the beginning of the 2002 school year, McPherson appointed faculty and staff members to six strategic direction implementation task forces. The general purpose of these task forces is to take Strategic Directions and make them a reality. The six task forces are: Admissions and Financial Aid, Institutional Identity, Academic Program Quality and Structure, Student Learning Experience and Resource Use: Budgeting, Staffing and Organization, and Facilities. This is the third report in a series of six.


The Admissions and Financial Aid Task Force (AFATF), one of six task forces created to critically examine different areas within Macalester, made its findings public in a report released this summer. The report, available at the President's Planning Portfolio on the Macalester College website, examines a number of key issues related to the area of Admissions and Financial Aid and makes recommendations about how the system's sustainability and scope can be improved.

The task force, which met throughout the past academic year, was made up of Associate Provost and Director of Institutional Research Daniel Balik; Mathematics and Computer Science professor Joan Hutchinson; Financial Aid Director Brian Lindeman; Biology professor Kathleen Parson; Dean of Admissions Lorne Robinson; and German Studies and Russian professor James von Geldern. Two students, Rino Koshimizu '02 and Adelle Thomas '03 were also members of the task force but were not involved in the preparation of the final report. Michael Behnke, Vice President of Admissions at the University of Chicago, was brought in as a consultant.

The Admissions and Financial Aid Task Force addressed three general points: the implication of the college's investments in information technology and services, how the recommendations assist in pursuing diversity and the recommendation's impacton promoting civic engagement. In addition, the AFATF was charged with the specific task of "reviewing our admissions position relative to our comparison schools and identifying key factors that could strengthen our position."

The task force's ultimate goal is to help the college remain need-blind while still meeting the needs of admitted students, continuing to enroll "highly qualified students" and increasing the numbers of U.S. minority students. The task force acknowledges that Macalester's Admissions and Financial Aid departments have been "highly selective and effective for some time."

However, the report also identifies tuition revenue as a concern. When President Michael McPherson, a nationally-known expert on the subject of financial aid, was asked whether the current setup is sustainable, he said that without a significant increase of outside help, the current configuration cannot stay together.

Behnke found that one of Macalester's major hurdles is a relatively small applicant pool and large amount of financial aid given compared to other comparison colleges. According to Lindeman, approximately two-thirds of Macalester students receive need-based financial aid. Almost ninety percent of the international student population receives financial aid. According to the report, which looks at the average grant for incoming students in the Class of 2006, the average international student aid package is $21,000 while the average domestic student package is $14,000. While this is part of what makes Macalester unique, it is also impractical to expect the college to continue dispersing money at its current rate.

The task force recommended that the college examine its need-blind policy. It suggested considering merit-based financial aid, improved marketing to increase the college's visibility to low-need students and students of color and asking international students to take out loans. In 2003-04, new international students may be asked to take loans as a part of their aid package. The loans would be consigned by Macalester and have a forgiveness provision that would be put into effect if the international student returns to his/her native country to do public service work.

Although the task force's recommendations will be looked at seriously, the Admissions office, the Financial Aid office and the general administration emphasize that the recommendations are just that—recommendations, and no more. McPherson says that, with the exception of the change in international financial aid, the recommendations do not have specific timeframes.