Bender Forecasts Reduction In Class of '58 Scholarships

In an effort to reinstitute past policy, the number of scholarships that will be awarded to the incoming Class of '58, will be reduced, Dean Wilbur J. Bender announced last night.

Only 25 to 27 percent of the incoming class will receive scholarships, as compared to the 31.5 percent of the Class of '57, noted Bender. The cut will probably amount to 25 or 30 scholarships.

Bender had remarked last year that "more scholarships were handed out than we could afford." The number of applicants for scholarships increased from 1,350 to 1,774 since last year, said Bender, and the Financial Aid Center's tendency was "to go a little farther because the quality of the applicants was so high."

Also, Bender pointed out, under a new admission policy of visiting more schools, especially in the West, more applicants were to be expected. Presently, 95 percent of the students from west of the Mississippi receive scholarship aid.

Three hundred and fifty-two of this year's freshmen receive scholarships, said Bender, as compared to 311 last year. Meanwhile, he added, the class has decreased from 1,222 to 1,152.

Public school graduates now comprise 53.2 percent of the freshman class, noted the Dean of Admissions--an increase of 5.4 percent over the Class of '56. Part of this increase" Bender attributed to the greater activities of the local Harvard clubs.