The Tufts Daily THE
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E S T. 1 9 8 0
Medford/Somerville, Mass.
Thursday, April 23, 2026
VOLUME XCIII, ISSUE 11
INVESTIGATIVE
Tufts students face midyear financial aid cuts, miscommunication from administration Zach Halverstam, Carlos Del Cañal Fernández and Maggie Binda-Dunn
needs are being ignored at the expense of the initiative.
Executive Investigative Editor and Contributing Writers
Over the last six months, the Daily has collected evidence of concerns among the Tufts student body and faculty regarding financial aid. These concerns include continuous midyear cuts, sudden decreases in financial aid packages, a lack of communication between students and administrators and difficulties in the appeal process. This investigation expands upon a previous article detailing the experiences of Emma Do, a Tufts student who was forced to return home after the entirety of her aid was withdrawn without notice in July 2024. Multiple students have since come forward with similar allegations of sudden funding cuts and reductions despite the critical need for aid. Tufts’ strict eight-semester academic residency requirement makes it difficult for students to graduate early, increasing the financial burden on those who rely
NICOLE GARAY / THE TUFTS DAILY
Dowling Hall, the location of the Financial Aid Office, is pictured. on aid. At the same time, difficulties with the Tufts Financial Aid Office — often occurring alongside family hardships — have placed additional strain on these students.
These concerns come as the university begins to implement its new Tufts Tuition Pact initiative, which will make tuition free for families making under $150,000 per year with typical assets. While
both the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the Financial Aid Office have stated the pact will not increase the tuition of students whose household income is above the threshold, some feel that their
Jena Thorne, a senior, had previously taken a two-semester leave for health-related issues. Her family, living in Oakland, Calif., relied on financial aid to make attending the university feasible. Even with the family’s increase in income over this period, rising medical bills during Thorne’s two medical leaves increased financial strain. However, Thorne said that her aid has continuously been reduced throughout her time at Tufts, hitting zero this fall. Additionally, the Financial Aid Office rejected Thorne’s appeal for financial aid. “Every year since, I’ve been getting less and less financial aid, which I think is partly due to [the fact that] my family has also had increased income, but not really substantially,” Thorne said. “This past year, they gave me no financial aid at all.” Thorne decided not to transfer from Tufts despite these issues. Although she had already claimed see FINANCIAL AID, page 2
Hours cut for Tufts Dining employees at Dewick, student workers fear future changes Katherine Kelton
Assistant News Editor
Tufts Dining has reduced work hours for all student dining employees at Dewick-MacPhie Dining Center following budget cuts, leaving students concerned about future reductions. An email sent to student dining staff on Feb. 20 informed them that “executive management” had ordered the elimination or reduction of various positions. As a result, some employees saw their hours reduced, with a few lower-hour positions eliminated entirely. Patti Klos, senior director of Tufts Dining, confirmed the cuts in an email to the Daily, attributing them to a budget overrun identified in the fall. “To ensure we remained within our allocated budget for the rest of the year, we modified the number of hours available to student employees each week,” Klos wrote. She described the move as a corrective measure to ensure “fairness and consistency across
MATTHEW SAGE / THE TUFTS DAILY
Dewick-MacPhie Dining Center is pictured on Sept. 5, 2024. locations” and emphasized that student employees remain “an essential part of our team.” However, affected workers described the changes as sudden and disruptive, adding that they were given little warning. For
students who rely on dining hall wages to cover basic expenses, the rationale for cutting their hours remains unclear. One worker, who requested anonymity out of fear of retribution, said the cuts have intensified
existing staffing pressures, particularly during peak hours. “There are days where it’s just so busy that the full-time workers have to focus on setting things up in the kitchen, in the dish room, so they don’t have time … to clean
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tables,” they said. “So then it gets just very overwhelming.” The worker pointed to a perceived contradiction between the university’s budgetary constraints and its recent announcements of major investments. “Something, for me, that made the whole situation really frustrating was … to constantly see them talk about how we have such generous donations and funding,” they said. “They’re announcing the Tuition Pact and the aquatics center and the new dorm, but also going, ‘Oh, but we don’t have enough money to pay our student workers.’” The Tufts Tuition Pact — which will make the university tuition-free for students from U.S. families earning less than $150,000 annually — and the new dorm, Pachyderm Place, were announced last year, while the new aquatics center was reported in March. The financial impact on students has been immediate and personal. The same dining see DINING, page 3
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