News > October 11, 2007

By Jae Haley | Managing editor

When deciding where to apply to college, sophomore Thomas Kozak knew he could only see himself at Wake Forest. But, with Kozak’s family already financing his brother’s education at Notre Dame, and tuition money in short supply, affording Wake’s hefty $46,000 cost was an obstacle for Kozak.

“Money is a large problem for my family,” Kozak said. He described his lineage as “poor Irish and Italians all the way back.”

The conflict between attending one’s dream school and lacking the money to pay the tuition is a problem for many families whose children want to attend those top-tier, “elite” and usually private institutions. Fortunately for Kozak and others like him, the university offers just the scholarship to remedy such a predicament.

Last year, Kozak and 18 other students were announced as the 2006-’07 recipients of the Heritage Scholarship. Established in 2001 by an anonymous donation of $4 million, the scholarship covers up to 75 percent of a student’s expenses, depending on his or her demonstrated financial need. Fifty-three students have since received the scholarship, 21 of which are currently enrolled.

The award, the only anonymously donated scholarship offered by the university, is so named because the donor stipulated that the money be used to attract students who most resemble the profile of the university’s traditional constituency, dating back to when the campus was located in Wake County, before the university became recognized as a top national institution.Specifically, the fund seeks students from low- to middle-income families, those from small towns or rural areas and those who are the first in their families to attend college.

“The donor wants to bring traditional Wake students back into the fold,” said Paul Gauthier, associate director of merit-based scholarships.

The Heritage seeks students with excellent academic records and those interested in liberal arts or humanities.

While other academic scholarships such as the Zachary T. Smith target students who cannot afford full tuition costs, several are offered only to North Carolina residents or students from particular counties or regions in the state.

The K. Wayne Smith, Hankins and Holding Scholarships fall under this category. The Heritage, in contrast, is for students across the nation.

Though the Heritage’s stated purpose is to re-establish the university’s connection to its roots, those who work closely with the scholarship say its effect on the university has inadvertently surpassed the donor’s stated purpose.

As Milton King, associate director of financial aid, said, the scholarship allows the university to increase the socioeconomic diversity on campus by admitting men and women who aren’t “prototypical Wake Forest students.”

“That diversity allows for the robust exchange of ideas,” King said.

Kozak chose to use the analogy of a conversation: “It’s boring if everyone agrees.”This ability of the Heritage to allow low- and middle-income students to attend a university they might not otherwise have been able to afford couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time.

Colleges and universities, especially private institutions, have been criticized for their lack of socioeconomic diversity as a result of admitting fewer lower income students.

The culprit, according to a Sept. 24 editorial in the New York Times, is that the admissions process of selective institutions inherently favors those students from the upper rungs of society as they typically have more time, opportunity and resources to prove their worth to admissions counselors.

The Times editorial also cites a recent study of 146 selective colleges and universities that showed that students from the nation’s wealthiest families are 25 times more likely to attend a “top tier” college than students from the bottom quartile.

As one of only 28 U.S. institutions with a need-blind admissions policy, meaning financial need is not a factor in deciding to admit a student, Wake Forest is more poised to attract students from lower incomes.

With such a policy, the university pledges to meet 100 percent of a student’s demonstrated financial need. Currently, 58 percent of university students receive some form of financial aid, with the average award amount about $22,450.

“It’s a message of encouragement to go ahead and apply to Wake if it’s a great match for you,” King said. “It’s saying, ‘don’t let the financial aspects deter you from applying.’”

But, according to Wake Forest Magazine, the university’s ability to meet prospective students’ financial aid needs with gifts rather than loans is low compared with other private schools that regularly compete with the university for students.

In comparison, several of Wake Forest’s cross-admission institutions such as Davidson College and UNC-Chapel Hill have amended their financial aid policies to reduce students’ post-college debt.

In the spring of this year, Davidson College eliminated student loans from financial aid packages, instead meeting students’ financial needs with grants and student employment.

Emory and Rice Universities also have policies that restrict the amount of loans in financial aid packages depending on the family’s income.

These changes are precisely why the Heritage is such a boon for Wake Forest, which has increasingly felt the pressure from other colleges and universities to offer more competitive aid packages.

“Wake hasn’t shut itself off from people of a lower socioeconomic background, but the tuition has,” Kozak said. “The (Heritage Scholarship) keeps an open mind to this problem.”