While it's pretty easy to feel sheltered in the teeny town of Hanover, the recession has proven itself very capable of bursting our Dartmouth bubble. National financial woes have taken their toll on all aspects of the student experience, from sweeping institutional changes such as changes to the financial aid policy, to deciding whether or not to eat out at Molly's for dinner.
Many students have observed that their peers have become more aware of their spending habits since the recession, according to Rachel Ofori '14.
"It's little things in the way that my friends spend things," she said. "Not going out to dinner as much, not shopping, things like that."
Similarly, Haley Carstensen '12 noted a "certain frugality" that has emerged at Dartmouth, which she attributes to economic problems.
"It's often instead of taking a big weekend trip to Boston finding fun things to do around Hanover, like apple picking," she said.
Being at Dartmouth does serve to protect students from more dire financial realities at home, George said.
"For me, it's difficult to go back home," Blythe George '12 said. "It's a matter of, We only have 20 bucks for dinner, so what are we going to get?' Those kinds of restraints, we might not have them here at Dartmouth."
For George, finances have always been a serious concern for her family. She noticed that many of her friends have recently gained a new awareness of financial responsibility.
"It's a new phenomenon for a lot of kids," George said. "It complicates the overall college experience, whether it's your own money or your family's."
John Finkelberg '13 noted that many Dartmouth students have also become more aware of what they say in public about money.
"It makes people more careful, especially about how much they show off," he said. "It's a fact that Dartmouth is not all 1 percent."
The relatively large number of recent institutional changes from the new dining plan to reduced off-term funding to staff layoffs has been the subject of much student criticism in recent months.
Students interviewed by The Mirror also expressed greater concerns about the cost of a Dartmouth education since the economic downturn. Ofori said that financial concerns have led to more open dialogue with her parents about tuition costs.
"In comparison to last year, my parents have talked about it a lot more, with tuition going up," Ofori said. "My parents pay a lot for me to be here. As a student, it kind of makes you take your classes and things more seriously."
While paying for tuition has certainly become a larger obstacle for many families as a result of economic troubles, Carstensen pointed out that Dartmouth tuition has always been very expensive.
"Tuition is a major expense for families of college students," Carstensen said. "That was true before the recession, and it's true now." Financial aid defrays some tuition costs, but does not totally alleviate financial concerns brought on by the recession. Kaitlin Renkosiak '12 said that although she does not qualify for full financial aid, her parents are unable to entirely cover her tuition costs. She said she currently has $85,000 in personal loans, yet her specific loan package does not satisfy her financial needs.
"My parents actually took a $50,000 pay cut and I got $10,000 more in financial aid," Renkosiak said, adding that while her family's finances changed dramatically, her aid package changed only slightly. "Once, [the Financial Aid Office] asked me to take out a loan against [my parents'] house."
Dartmouth financial aid does prevent some students from needing to acquire loans, according to George.
"I will leave this place without a loan, and that's not something a lot of kids can say," she said.
She did add, however, that financial aid does not allow students to pursue every interest, such as more expensive physical education courses.
"Overall, I feel like things have changed at Dartmouth since I was a freshman," George said. "[Little things] affect us every day and we don't really realize it."
