By Jason Zaler

On a lazy summer day in the near future, you will saunter down the driveway to the mailbox. Inside will be an envelope whose contents become more familiar each and every year. It’s your offer for financial aid, and it looks surprisingly similar to last year’s.

Financial aid is a big selling point when students pick Northeastern over other private schools. Most can’t offer the financial aid, especially academic aid, that NU promises, and for many students that is enough to push them to Huskyville.

What isn’t discussed is that after high school, NU doesn’t look at your grades again. Of course, advisors and other staff will see your grades on the path to confetti at the FleetCenter. But no one will review your academic performance and revise your scholarship offer. The grades that got you through high school and that determined your initial offer of academic scholarship, not need-based aid, will follow you throughout your time at Northeastern.

This policy is totally backwards. Students should be evaluated periodically and scholarship money should reflect the grades that they have earned so far in their college careers. People thrive at different levels of education.

There are many types of students, but they often fit into three groups. The first are kids who did well in high school and continue to succeed in college. The second group is kids who memorized their notes before high school exams and got good grades. They do alright in college, but can’t match their outstanding high school performance. Let’s call them the Flash Cards. The third group didn’t do as well as the Flash Cards in high school but excelled in certain subjects and have thrived within their major. These are the Late Bloomers.

The facts are simple. At Northeastern, the Flash Cards are often rewarded without review for mediocre college performance. They come into school with lofty GPAs and fat pockets filled with cash handouts. But, as their grades become pedestrian and the years go by, they keep the $10,000-$25,000 in scholarship money per year given to them.

The Late Bloomers come to school with less luster but more in the way of foresight. They often study what interested them in high school, and their grades reflect it. Even though they receive significantly less, if any financial aid per year, they often outperform the Flash Cards in the class room.

It is time for NU to join the ranks of schools that reward students who achieve with more money. One example is George Washington University, which has tiers of guaranteed scholarship money, reviewed annually, and based on academic performance. NU should have a similar system. It is time to reward students who work hard and play by the rules.

– Jason Zaler is a middler international affairs major.