Does merit-based financial aid serve the common good?
• What is the Faculty’s collective responsibility to our students? • Will industry sponsorship of research distort our mission? Each of these questions deserves deeper analysis than is presented here. Nonetheless, I hope that these thoughts will stimulate further consideration of these matters. DOES MERIT-BASED FINANCIAL AID SERVE THE COMMON GOOD? For about fifty years, MIT, the Ivy League universities and many other outstanding private colleges and universities adhered to principles known as need-blind admission and need-based distribution of financial aid. “Need-blind” means that those making admissions decisions do not know the financial status of the applicants. “Need-based” means simply that we expect admitted students and their families to pay what they reasonably can of the cost of education, and we will make up the difference. These policies enable the institution to do the greatest good by distributing finite resources to those most in need. Why did these colleges and universi
