Universities Weblog

(Source: davidson college)

Following in Ivy footsteps, Davidson College announced it will no longer require students to take out loans. Instead, the college will meet financial need through grants and work-study jobs. Students will thus graduate debt-free.

Read this, courtesy of the AP:

Davidson College announced Monday it will eliminate loans from its need-based financial aid packages and replace them with grants and work-study, a move school officials said would allow students to graduate debt-free.

The liberal arts college had capped loan amounts in recent years to reduce student debt, but higher education experts said it's the only college of its kind to halt loan handouts in need-based aid packages.

Davidson will raise new money to pay for the grants and work opportunities. One recent capital campaigns raised about $90 million for financial aid, and future campaigns will help sustain the program, said Chris Gruber, vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid.

"We're not taking anything away from the college's other programs," Gruber said.

The announcement comes as education leaders across the country debate ways to prevent college campuses from welcoming only rich students.

Elite universities such as Princeton and Columbia have eliminated or significantly reduced loans by awarding more grant money.

Others, such as Harvard and Yale, have stopped requiring lower-income families to contribute to the cost of attending - an amount of money usually expected based on federal financial aid calculations. And even public universities, such as the University of North Carolina, have stopped forcing loans upon the neediest students.

You can find the rest here and read Davidson's announcement here.

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