By Mike Benjamin
Oswego, NY – A local private college said it would no longer consider whether applicants could afford tuition when deciding which students to accept.
Hamilton College said it is fulfilling a priority in adopting the new need-blind admissions policy. The college said it has received $2.5 million in pledges from trustees to cover tuition for students who can not afford it.
"They get a little bit of a bump in terms of being able to be admitted in to an institution," said Tony Pals, spokesman for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. "But it's important to note that in main institutions across the country, most low income and working class students who are academically qualified are able to get into the college for which they're academically eligible."
Pals said need-blind policies allow colleges to enroll more low-income students.
Pals said because of a recent trend toward need-blind policies, tuition costs for students at private colleges and universities in the U.S. have not gone up as much as the rate of inflation.