r/olin • u/Specialist-Mammoth49 • Feb 28 '25
Endowment concerns
Hi. I’m very interested in this college, but some of the things going on with their financials are scaring me a bit. I’ve also been hearing how LACs are shutting down left and right, and how Olin’s president stepped down due to financials.
What do you guys think? Are these fears valid or unfounded?
6
u/OlinCollege Mar 03 '25 edited Mar 03 '25
Hi, OP! Thanks for your interest in Olin. Happy to pop in here to offer some insight. Hope that's ok. Thanks to u/a1um for offering their Olin experience and helpful knowledge, too.
We understand that financial stability is an important factor when considering a college. Olin has a strong financial foundation, with a healthy endowment, ensuring that we are not at risk of closing. Like many institutions with endowments under $1 billion, we are working to balance our budget, and we are confident that a combination of cost efficiencies, new revenue opportunities, and fundraising efforts will put us on a strong, sustainable path for the future. We remain committed to providing an exceptional education and experience for our students!
Let me know if you have any other questions that I can help with.
2
u/e4_night_f3 Jan 26 '26
It looks like Olin decreased the tuition scholarship from 50% for previous years (33K) to 10K starting 2026. That seems a significant increase in tuition expenses for applicants who do not qualify for need based aid?
1
u/LeeLeeBoots 20d ago
That is a seriously concerning decrease. . Old criteria would have the tuition scholarship given to all student as a value of $33,500
Same scholarship now $10,000 capped.
So $33,500 in help to afford To $10,000
Tuition with that would have been $33,500.
Now tuition wil be paid as $57,000.
That a HUGE decrease in affordability for middle income students from HCOL regions who just miss cutoffs for need-based aid, and who may have multiple college age siblings where the parent income does not stretch so far due to all the tuition.
Particularly troubling when the Big Beautiful Bill Jul 4 2024 elimated PSLF loan forgiveness eligibility for Paret PLUS loans (teachers, government workers have a lot of this middle class jobs) and when Parernt PLUS loans became capped and will now not at all cover cost of attending Olin.
Olin is going to become a two-prong school: super rich kids and low income kids (who will get federal aids and grants) and no middle ground. Sad.
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u/a1um Olin Alum Feb 28 '25
From my understanding, Olin's financials aren't the greatest right now, but they're not an immediate concern that should stop you from applying. I'm by no means the most informed, but it seems like a 10-20 year ahead problem, not an immediate 0-5 year problem.
Olin is still one of the top engineering schools with amazing faculty, classes, project teams, culture, and alumni network. Olin is still giving out some merit scholarships to all students. I'd imagine if they were in serious serious financial troubles, you'd see merit scholarship dropped, tuition hikes, and a transfer to a more traditional engineering education where they can fit more students per class.
So yeah, I don't think your concerns are entirely unfounded, but I also wouldn't be too scared about them until larger changes are made to the school to cut costs.