Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.99
Liaison Megan Butler
Submission Date July 18, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Macalester College
PA-8: Affordability and Access

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.85 / 4.00 Brian Lindeman
Director
Financial Aid
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Does the institution have policies and programs in place to make it accessible and affordable to low-income students?:
Yes

A brief description of any policies and programs to minimize the cost of attendance for low-income students:
Macalester College offers a financial aid package that meets 100% of the demonstrated financial need of students, a package that includes loans as well work study.

A brief description of any programs to equip the institution’s faculty and staff to better serve students from low-income backgrounds:
The recent addition of the Working Class Identity collective has created an affirmative space for those who come from low-income space, and in the same stroke, created a platform from which such an identity can interact directly with the administration. Furthermore, since the Identity Collectives are initially chaired by the Department of multicultural Life, DML has since been able to direct programming to serve these students' needs.

A brief description of any programs to prepare students from low-income backgrounds for higher education:
The Emerging Scholars Program (ESP) is a program, created in collaboration with the Macalester Academic Excellence (MAX) Center, designed to increase the number of historically underrepresented students at Macalester who are selected to participate in and receive opportunities for study abroad/away, internships, fellowships, and scholarships, and to increase their application and admittance to graduate and professional schools.

A brief description of the institution's scholarships for low-income students:
Macalester College offers a financial aid package that meets 100% of the demonstrated financial need of students, a package that includes loans as well work study. The average financial aid package contains over 80% grants/scholarships. The percentage composed of grants and scholarships is typically higher for low-income students.

A brief description of any programs to guide parents of low-income students through the higher education experience:
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A brief description of any targeted outreach to recruit students from low-income backgrounds:
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A brief description of other admissions policies or programs to make the institution accessible and affordable to low-income students:
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A brief description of other financial aid policies or programs to make the institution accessible and affordable to low-income students:
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A brief description of other policies and programs to make the institution accessible and affordable to low-income students not covered above:
Bonner scholars: This is a program that helps first generation students after they have been accepted to Macalester. There are programs available for students get into college such as Admission possible program which help high school students with their standardized tests for example. But, there are few programs that support those first generation college students or students with special assistance to continue get support while at College. The Bonner scholars program is one of the few programs that support students while at College. This program helps students at Macalester meet with professors and ask tough questions which they would otherwise not ask on their own.

Does the institution have policies and programs in place to support non-traditional students?:
No

A brief description of any scholarships provided specifically for part-time students:
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A brief description of any onsite child care facilities, partnerships with local facilities, and/or subsidies or financial support to help meet the child care needs of students:
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A brief description of other policies and programs to support non-traditional students:
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Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 of this credit (accessibility and affordability indicators)?:
Yes

Indicators that the institution is accessible and affordable to low-income students::
Percentage (0-100)
The percentage of entering students that are low-income 19
The graduation/success rate for low-income students 81
The percentage of student financial need met, on average 100
The percentage of students graduating with no interest-bearing student loan debt 34.80

The percentage of students that participate in or directly benefit from the institution’s policies and programs to support low-income and non-traditional students:
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The website URL where information about the institution's affordability and access programs is available:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.