Fewer Radcliffe freshmen will receive financial aid next year, but individual awards will increase, Nancy J. McIntire, director of Financial aid, said last week.

Gifts and loans will total over $170,-000. Last year, $179,650 was awarded.

Although the deadline for notification of acceptance is not until next week, the Financial Aid Office estimates that all the 92 girls offered aid will accept it. Last year 104 girls accepted scholarships.

Larger Grants

The number of gifts and loans is smaller this year in order to provide recipients with larger grants, Miss McIntire said.

The first $300 of a financial aid grant is a long-term loan. If more money is needed, the girl receives a scholarship gift. Most grants are a combination loan-gift.

Miss McIntire estimated that 90 per cent of Radcliffe's aid goes to public school graduates, and that distribution follows no geographical pattern.

Lists Compared

Radcliffe uses the College Scholarship Service to determine financial need after the Committee on Admissions has made its decisions.

Radcliffe, the other Seven Sister schools, Cornell, Stanford, Swarthmore, and the University of Pennsylvania compare lists of financial aid candidates during the two weeks in April before letters of admission are mailed.

Some of the schools then make "slight" adjustments in awards so that mutual applicants will be offered approximately the same amount from each school she has applied to. "We don't want to be accused of buying students," Miss McIntire said.