Dartmouth joins list of colleges that replace loans with grants

Dartmouth College has announced that effective with the 2008-2009 school year they will have a revised financial aid policy that will include, among other items, the replacement of loans with grants for incoming freshman.

Dartmouth’s new policy has 4 key elements. The first is the elimination of tuition for families earning less than $75,000 per year. This policy is different than that of most of the other colleges that have recently announced new aid policies in that it applies only to tuition. Students will still have responsibility for room, board, books and other costs although as the college points out, many of these students will receive aid to cover much of these costs as well.

The second element of their new policy is replacing loans with grants. As noted above, this will take place for new students only. Current students will have their loan obligations cut by 50% starting with the next school year and continuing for each of their remaining years at the college.

The third element of Dartmouth’s new aid policy is that they are going need blind for international students. This means that when students are evaluated for admission their ability to pay will not be considered for any student, even though from foreign countries. This is unusual as few colleges in the United States provide need blind admissions for foreign students.

The fourth, and final, new policy is that students in their junior year will be allowed a leave term with no earning expectation. In the past, when students were on leave they were expected to earn a certain amount of money that would be contributed toward their education. Wealthy students, who did not need to worry about such contributions, would often engage in non wage earnings pursuits such as research or volunteer activities during this time . The college will now be giving junior students an additional scholarship of $2,950 to allow students receiving financial aid the same research and volunteer opportunities as wealthier students.

It is good to see Dartmouth joining the ranks of wealthy colleges who are making an effort to make college more affordable for those with lower incomes.