University of Vermont improves financial aid for some instate students

The University of Vermont has announced that they will be offering grants to cover the cost of tuition and costs to all Vermont undergraduates who are eligible for Pell Grants and who are Vermont residents. This policy will begin with the 2008 entering fall class and will be phased in over the next 4 years to include all undergraduates eligible for the Pell Grant.

The announcement makes it clear that the grants are for tuition and costs only which means that these students will still have some obligation to pay for room, board and books. Still it is good to see a state university taking action to improve the financial aid available to the neediest of their students. As noted in the past few months, more and more of the colleges without tremendous endowments are figuring out ways to improve their Equity Indexed annuities financial aid without breaking the bank. Hopefully more college will continue to follow the lead of those colleges that have improved their financial aid in the past year.