Student Financial Services
Student Financial Services (SFS) enables students to meet their financial obligations while ensuring access to an MIT education for all qualified students without regard to their financial need. The major SFS units are: Student Accounts, Student Employment, Student Financial Aid, Student and Parent Loans, Finance and Systems Support, and the Student Services Center.
Student Accounts bills and collects tuition, fees, and other student charges and counsels students and their families on payment options and financial management.
Student Employment develops term-time and summer student employment opportunities; manages on- and off-campus student employment programs, including the Federal Work-Study program; and counsels students on student employment options.
Student Financial Aid administers undergraduate financial aid programs from all sources including institutional, federal, state, and private; administers need-based graduate financial aid programs; and counsels students and their families on financial aid and financing options.
Student and Parent Loans manages undergraduate, graduate, and parent educational loan programs; manages the MIT Educational Loan Plan for faculty and staff; bills and collects institutional loans, including the Federal Perkins Loan program; and provides loan counseling.
Finance and Systems Support provides general accounting and finance services to SFS and coordinates the development, delivery, and maintenance of the SFS business application environment.
The Student Services Center provides a broad range of academic, financial, and general information services to students, parents, alumni, members of the MIT community, and the general public.
Tuition and Fees
For the 2002–2003 academic year, tuition revenues rose 5.7 percent to $304,960,701. Graduate tuition was $189,431,011, or 62 percent, compared to 61 percent in 2001-2002; undergraduate tuition was $115,529,690, or 38 percent, compared to 39 percent last year.
FY 2003 fees include: student activity fees of $1,984,700, late payment fees of $315,070 and MIT Monthly Payment Plan fees of $99,933. Combined monthly and late payment fees were $415,003, a 37 percent increase over FY2002 due to the economic downturn in the United States and abroad.
Student Accounts Receivable
Student accounts receivable as of June 30, 2003 is $5,230,515, a decrease of 1.8 percent from June 30, 2002. A contract was signed with Williams & Fudge, an outside collection agency, for second placement of delinquent student accounts.
Undergraduate Scholarships
For the 2002–2003 academic year, 2,990, or 71.6 percent of the 4,178 registered undergraduates, received scholarships totaling $53,664,074, representing a 3.2 percent increase from the prior year. Scholarships funded by MIT rose 8.7 percent with 53.2 percent of the undergraduates receiving an MIT scholarship. The average MIT scholarship was $19,010. The types and sources of undergraduate scholarships are as follows:
| Source of Undergraduate Scholarships | Total Undergraduate Scholarships | Number of Unduplicated Undergraduate Scholarship Recipients |
| MIT | $42,241,722 |
2,222 |
| Federal Government | $
5,693,245 |
942 |
| State Governments | $
349,430 |
171 |
| Private Sources | $
5,379,677 |
1,236 |
| TOTAL | $53,664,074 |
2,990 |
Undergraduate Student Loans
For the 2002–2003 academic year, 1,994 undergraduates, or 47.7 percent, received a student loan from some source for total borrowing of $9,442,255. For those undergraduates borrowing, the average loan was $4,735. The types and sources of undergraduate student loans are as follows:
| Source of Undergraduate Student Loans | Total Undergraduate Student Loans | Number of Unduplicated Undergraduate Borrowers |
| MIT | $
908,906 |
291 |
| Federal Government | $6,428,988 |
1,701 |
| Private Sources | $2,104,361 |
132 |
| TOTAL | $9,442,255 |
1,994 |
Graduate Student Loans
For the 2002–2003 academic year, 1,004, or 16.8 percent of the 5,984 registered graduates, received a student loan from any source. Total graduate students loans were $25,970,009, an increase of 17.7 percent from 2001–2002. This growth is attributed to the completion of the phase-in of a new student loan program, Sloan CitiAssist, for two-year MBA students. MIT Technology Loans to graduate students decreased 86.3 percent from the prior year, as expected due to the full phase-in of Sloan CitiAssist. For those graduate students borrowing, the average loan was $25,866. The types and sources of graduate student loans are as follows:
| Source of Graduate Student Loans | Total Amount of Graduate Student Loans | Number of Unduplicated Graduate Borrowers |
| MIT | $ 513,813 | 38 |
| Federal Government | $11,126,425 | 752 |
| Private Sources | $14,329,771 | 506 |
| TOTAL | $25,970,009 | 1,004 |
Parent Loans
For the 2002-2003 academic year, 397 undergraduate parents, or 9.5 percent, borrowed through a parent loan program administered by MIT. For those parents borrowing in FY 2003, the average loan was $20,988. The types and sources of parent loans are as follows.
| Source of Parent Loans | Total Amount of Parent Loans | Number of Unduplicated Parent Borrowers |
| MIT | $
1,827,464 |
91 |
| Federal Government | $
4,143,753 |
246 |
| Private Sources | $
2,361,205 |
134 |
| TOTAL | $
8,332,422 |
397 |
Student Loan Notes Receivable
Student Financial Services continues to administer student and parent loan program, including but not limited to MIT Technology Loans, Federal Perkins Loans, the Parent Loan Plan, and MIT Educational Loans. Student loan notes receivable for all educational loan programs is $76,720,101 as of June 30, 2003, down 6.8 percent from the prior year due to the significant number of borrowers consolidating institutional loans under the federal loan program.
During FY2003, $2,593,948 was loaned to MIT faculty and staff and $2,457,557 was collected. The year-end receivable balance for the program is $2,904,769, up 4.2 percent from FY2002.
Accomplishments
Significant accomplishments within SFS during FY2003 include the following:
- Through a joint venture with Student Systems Information Technology and Edgewater Technology, Inc. designed, developed, and tested the second phase of a user interface to the MITSIS system to support Student Account Services
- In partnership with Student Systems Information Technology, the Controller's Accounting Office, Information Systems, and Financial Systems Services completed a Discovery Project for electronic billing and acceptance of automatic clearing house payments
- Administered a successful Federal Work-Study Community Service Program by exceeding the mandatory 9 percent spending, creating 40 new partnerships with non-profits, locally and across the country, and tripling graduate student participation
- Collaborated with the Alumni Club of Southern California to develop undergraduate summer employment opportunities for over 300 undergraduates
- Developed and implemented a new Student Financial Aid web site
- Improved individual and organizational level of competence and confidence with the new financial aid system, PowerFAIDS
- Continued to enhance student learning by creating greater student choice as relates to satisfying the undergraduate self-help requirement
- Achieved successful fund management of endowed scholarship funds and current gifts resulting in unexpended unrestricted scholarship funds
- Completed phase two of the CitiAssist Sloan Program by expanding that program to first and second year MBA students as well as students enrolled in the Management of Technology (MOT) program, Leaders for Manufacturing (LFMY) program, and Sloan Fellows
- Began MIT's first year participating in the Federal Direct PLUS program, disbursing over $2.5 million dollars in loans to parents
- Conducted 28 group and 90 individual exit loan counseling sessions for 951 graduating students
- Conducted information sessions on federal loan consolidation for students during IAP
- Developed key metrics for organizational and individual performance measurement and developed reports to track these metrics
- In collaboration with Student Systems Information Technology, implemented electronic signatures at MIT
- Achieved successful coordination and implementation of the first stage of the US Department's Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) process
- Transferred the responsibility of issuing monthly stipend checks for graduate students from the Payroll Office to the Student Services Center
Staffing
There were staffing changes in SFS during the past year. Four staff members left, eight new staff members arrived, and there were three internal promotions. Staff members who left include: Heather Clang, manager of Student Services; Dwight Doherty, student account counselor; Sheherazade Essack, communications officer; and Danielle Trammel, student services representative. Staff members who arrived include: Daniel Barkowitz, director of financial aid, Shawn Bennett, compliance officer; Gregory Che, associate director of Student Financial Services; Guillermo Creamer, student loan counselor; Gary Ryan, student services representative; Jason Shumaker, student services representative; George Sotirion, financial aid representative; and Brianne Vogan, Student Services Representative. Three staff members took on new responsibilities within SFS: David Andre was promoted to manager of Student Services; Tanitia Graham to staff accountant; and Sophya Gudelman to student accounts counselor.