Since 2008, Brown’s total cost of attendance has increased from $47,740 to just under $100,000 — a 109% increase. But the University’s zero-parental contribution threshold — the maximum combined income below which parents are not expected to contribute to payments — has not moved.
Students for Educational Equity, an on-campus education advocacy group, is working to change this 18-year-old financial aid precedent. The University has not required parental contribution from most families making less than $60,000 per year and with total assets of less than $100,000 for nearly two decades, meaning parents in that category don’t have to pay anything — from housing to books to tuition — toward their child’s cost of attendance.
According to SEE Co-President Eliana Rivas Marte ’27, the group’s “primary proposal is to raise Brown’s zero-parental contribution threshold from $60,000 to $100,000, and raise the full tuition eligibility threshold from $125,000 to $150,000.”
Students from families with a total annual income at or below the full tuition eligibility threshold may be eligible for their tuition to be entirely covered but typically still pay for other attendance expenses.
SEE has also proposed that Brown establish a process to periodically review these thresholds based on inflation and standards at other universities, among other measures.
The group launched a petition in April detailing these proposals, and have received over 400 signatures to date.
“We were really encouraged by the range of people who have signed because this is not just an issue affecting one group of students,” Rivas Marte wrote. “Financial aid affects who can attend Brown, who can afford to stay and what students are able to do once they are here.”
Vy Nguyen ’30 believes that Brown’s threshold of $60,000 would be satisfactory if it were still 2008, but “now that threshold needs to be raised” due to an increase in the cost of living and other expenses.
It “seems like too low of a bar,” Nguyen said, adding that she thinks there are still many families whose incomes are now higher than the threshold, but are still considered low income.
According to Dean of Financial Aid Sean Ferns, the parent contributions in financial aid packages are “based on a family’s total income, assets and other factors, as they are detailed in the application materials that students and families submit each year.”
Cambry Marquardson ’30 thinks that a $100,000 income seems like a more appropriate threshold and feels it’s also important to consider the cost of living where students live.
Since 2008, all seven of the other Ivy League institutions have increased their zero-parental contribution thresholds and have surpassed Brown’s. Yale and Harvard have thresholds of $100,000, while Dartmouth and Princeton’s thresholds are $125,000 and $150,000, respectively.
Additionally, at Harvard and Yale, the full tuition eligibility threshold sits at $200,000 — at Princeton, that amount increases to $250,000.
Rivas Marte acknowledged that changing Brown’s zero-parental contribution threshold would not be easy, but she believes that examples from “peer institutions demonstrate that these thresholds are not fixed or inevitable,” she wrote.
“They can change when a university decides that expanding affordability is a priority,” she added. To address financial issues from the change, SEE believes that “targeted fundraising could be part of that solution,” she explained.
According to Ferns, expanding the University’s “financial aid measures requires significant resources.” He pointed out that the University has established and fulfilled “ambitious fundraising goals” that have enabled the creation of new initiatives that allow students from a vast array of economic backgrounds to become Brunonians.
One such initiative, Ferns noted, is being able to cover “all direct charges and (provide) $1,000 beyond that for students to apply toward personal expenses” for zero parent contribution families.
Rivas Marte said that SEE has had conversations with Office of Financial Aid and admissions office administrators, as well as President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20. “We have been able to bring the issue directly to people involved in Brown’s financial aid and admissions processes,” she wrote.
The student-led organization also included intermediate goals in their proposals, such as increasing the zero parent contribution threshold to $75,000 and the full tuition threshold to $150,000.
Ali Schapiro is a senior staff writer for University News, covering admissions and financial aid. She is a sophomore from New York City and plans to concentrate in English. In her free time, she enjoys vintage shopping, playing tennis, and doing New York Times crossword puzzles.
