NYU will grant students financial aid through the dating app Tinder, starting for the 2014-2015 academic year. Administrators who make financial aid decisions will now swipe right on the profiles they believe deserve aid and swipe left for those they believe do not. Whichever student profiles match with NYU’s profile will receive aid for the coming year.
NYU spokesman Toby Flenderson said that changing the system for financial aid will make life easier for the administration.
“Reading through all the paperwork can be stressful,” Flenderson said. “We want to make the process stress-free so that offering aid is like a game instead of a chore.”
Stern sophomore Rick Blaine said he is concerned NYU will not get to his profile.
“There are so many students at NYU,” Blaine said. “And what about the non-NYU students? They’ll have to look through them, too.”
CAS junior Caroline Bingley said she is confident about her potential aid offerings.
“I’ll get lots of money,” Bingley said. “My selfies are so hot. That’s all they’re looking for, right?”
Flenderson said students must have a Tinder account to be considered for aid.
“We don’t want to discriminate based on need,” Flenderson said. “We want to be able to assess the character of those we give aid to. NYU students are not just numbers to us, they’re people.”
Steinhardt freshman Edward Lewis has already lost his chance for aid next year.
“I just told my parents I have to take a year off,” Lewis said. “I accidentally left-swiped the NYU profile last night, so I won’t be getting anything from them.”
The Office of Financial Aid will begin judging profiles on April 2.
“Students need to keep an eye out for the NYU profile,” Flenderson said. “The best way to prepare is to swipe right on on the NYU logo and hope they’ll get matched.”
A version of this article appeared in the Tuesday, April 1 print edition. Akela is the leader of Mowgli’s wolf pack. Email the pack at [email protected].
