News Service Guarantees Scholarships

A new non-profit organization this week began offering a computer service that guarantees to locate up to 50 scholarships, grants, loans or work-study opportunities for all student applicants.

The Scholarship Bank promises that any high school, undergraduate or graduate student will receive at least four times his $35 fee in grants or other aid.

The data bank, updated daily, contains information about aid programs based on need, merit and other criteria.

Applicants fill out a questionnaire which includes information concerning sex, age, occupational goals and other biographical information, Steven Danz, director of the scholarship bank, said yesterday.

He added that the Scholarship Bank hopes financial aid offices at high schools and colleges will encourage students to use the service.

Martha C. Lyman, director of financial aid, said yesterday that although she supports the idea of providing scholarship services, she doubts the reputation of some of them.

Lyman said her office is now compiling comparable scholarship information for Harvard students, adding, "Although the entries will not be in a computer, they will be in a book which will not cost the student $35 to use."

Margot N. Gill, fellowship director in the Office of Career Services and Off-Campus Learning (OCS-OCL), said yesterday she believes mail order services like the Scholarship Bank are inadequate because they do not include necessary counseling.

Gill said she receives more important information for the application process when she interviews students in person, adding "Harvard students are intelligent enough to research the scholarships sources on their own.

John Pollock, administrative assistant at OCS-OCL, said yesterday he believes if the Scholarship Bank succeeds, more students will apply for scholarships, increasing competition for them. "It will become like the medical school process--fewer students will get accepted," he added.

Pollock said OCS-OCL provides a library containing information on grants, foundation, endowments and scholarships.

Danz said, however, if students use libraries to get scholarship information, they "would have to spend 90 to 100 hours in order to receive information that they could get from us in an envelope in three days."