Rosespeak: Chicago GSB committed to financial aid

Rose(maria Martinelli, Associate Dean for Student Recruitment and Admissions at Chicago GSB)has been globetrotting quite a bit and actually has found the time to blog too - in her latest post here, she talks about the impact of the credit-crunch on the loan programs of top schools and the commitment/effort from the schools' side to address this issue.

As a current year student, I had a few anxious moments during summer when the IDAPP loan program was closed by the lender because of the credit crisis; but Priscilla Parker and her team at the Financial Aid office managed to arrange an alternative financing option and rolled it out even before we got back to school - so both the 1st year class and continuing students in the second year have been covered fully for the year to come.

Some recent posts in other blogs/ websites talk about the same issue:

• The Clearadmit blog quotes the same post by Rose with comments from other top schools also and speaks about how different schools are working out ways to arrange aid for students.
• This post by an current applicant refers to a recent CNN article and talks about the options available for US residents and the dependency of international students on school-endorsed programs.

I personally remain confident that if anyone can sort this issue out, it would be the best B-schools in the world - once the new loan program falls in place, current applicants (domestic and international) would not only avail of low interest rates but also ride what will hopefully be a resurgent economy, when they graduate 2 year from now!

Want to discuss this topic some more? Head on over to the Chicago GSB Discussion Forums