Education
Eliminating Loans From Financial Aid Packages
By
Apr 7, 2007, 22:50

(NAPSI)-Nationally, college students already borrow $53.8 billion per year to cover the costs of tuition, room and board. The College Board has tracked an increase in tuition over the last five years.

Many of the students who receive financial aid rely on loans to cover some or all of their college costs. As a result, many graduates head out into the "real world" deeply in debt.

One institution of higher learning is working to change all that. In an effort to make education affordable for all students, the school has developed a new financial aid policy that will eliminate the loans in financial aid packages. As a result, all of its students will have their demonstrated financial need funded entirely through grants and student employment.

Taking effect in August 2007, this new policy makes Davidson College the first national liberal arts college in the country to adopt such a policy, eliminating loans from student aid packages and eliminating student debt for its graduates. Meanwhile, the school will maintain its strict commitment to practicing need-blind admissions, meaning the family's ability to pay for a student's education has no bearing on whether or not the student is admitted.

"We believe this new policy is the necessary response to the financial situation facing many applicants and their families," said President Robert F. Vagt, "and we know it is consistent with a core value of the college. A Davidson education should be affordable for all students, regardless of means. With the support of the college family, we are confident this bold initiative will make a significant difference for our students, our institution and our community."

In order to allow students to graduate from Davidson debt-free, the Trustees have identified and committed the immediate funding needed to initiate this policy, while formally committing to a strategy for raising new monies to endow the program.

This new policy is the latest step in Davidson's ongoing efforts to make the institution more affordable. For additional information, visit www.davidson.edu.
Davidson College President Robert F. Vagt expects the school's new tuition policy will go a long way toward helping families afford the cost of a higher education.

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