The amount of financial aid available to University of Wisconsin students has remained at a standstill while the cost of attending UW has continually risen, according to Steve Van Ess, director of the Office of Student Financial Services.

The result of rising costs without an increase in financial aid could lead to fewer people being able to afford a college education, he added.

This, coupled with the increase in tuition and other expenses without the corresponding increase in financial aid, results in more students being driven to take out private loans, which leads to a higher number of students in debt after graduation, according to Van Ess.

On top of the reduction in traditional forms of financial aid made available to students, the Bush administration announced changes to the Pell Grant program, which will decrease the number of students who can receive money through the initiative in order to balance the federal budget.

If trends continue to show increasing costs without an increase in aids or grants available to UW undergraduates, solutions like private funding or increased federal or state funding will have to be put into action in order for low-income students to continue to attend the university, according to Van Ess.

“There are many competing priorities for resources and money,” Van Ess said. “Money available for education does not seem to be at the top of the list of priorities.”

According to Van Ess, the academic disadvantage some students face is only partly due to the lack of financial aid. He added that families are financially less prepared for college, and society’s opinion of the importance of a college education has shifted, leading to a difference in the percentage of money available for grants and aid.

“Before, people thought there [were] hundreds of benefits for society to have an educated population,” Van Ess said. “Today, the sentiment has switched from a public interest to a private interest.”

People no longer find it as important to use public funding to aid individuals who are unable to pay for an education because a college education may be viewed as an individual benefit rather than a public benefit.

Some believe this shift in attitude is partly to blame for the unchanging amount of money available for aid, but, Van Ess said, ideally “money should be irrelevant and the rest should come from financial aid.”

UW officials are aware of increasing costs for UW students, but Van Ess said UW is one of the least expensive schools in the Big Ten and is not yet at a problem stage.

“I think there is a level of awareness and concern, but not many plans have been made for solutions,” Van Ess said.

Sarah Leute, a UW senior who has been working in the financial aid office for the past four years, said students should not be worried over the amount of money available to them for financial aid. All students who apply for aid will receive a loan, at the very least.

“Students should not be concerned,” Leute said. “Students with a higher need for aid will have more money available to them.”