Dartmouth and Vanderbilt expand financial aid awards in an effort to eliminate student loans

Amid
arguably
the
worst
year
to
apply
for

financial
aid,
some
colleges
are
implementing
new
strategies
to
entice
students
wary
of
the
high
cost.
  

Vanderbilt
University

announced
it
is
expanding Opportunity
Vanderbilt
to
include
full-tuition
scholarships
to
students
of
families
with
an
annual
income
of
$150,000
or
less.
Meanwhile,
Dartmouth
also
said
it
is
nearly
doubling
its
current

income
threshold
for
a “zero
parent
contribution”
for
parents
with
an
annual
income
of
$125,000,
up
from
$65,000.

“As
costs
continue
to
escalate
we
think
it’s
so
important
there
is
access,”
said
Doug
Christiansen,
Vanderbilt’s
dean
of
admissions
and
financial
aid.

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Harvard
is
back
on
top
as
the
ultimate ‘dream’
school

This
could
be
the
best
year
to
lobby
for
more
college
financial
aid

In
a
year
plagued
by

problems with
the
new Free
Application
for
Federal
Student
Aid,
students
who
were
already
struggling
under
the
weight
of
the
tab
now
face
additional
barriers,
Christiansen
said,
which
could
ultimately
hurt

college
enrollment.

“I
am
concerned
on
a
national
level
that
we
will
have
a
portion
that
think
they
can’t
afford
it,”
he
said. “Students
who
may
be
in
a
lower-income
situation
are
throwing
their
hands
up
and
saying, ‘I
just
can’t
go.'”

“College
affordability
is
a
serious
issue
for
these
families,”
Lee
Coffin,
Dartmouth’s
vice
president
and
dean
of
admissions
and
financial
aid,
said
in
a
statement.

“Increasing
the
threshold
for
expected
parent
contributions
for
a
greater
number
of
families
is
a
strong,
important
commitment
to
addressing
the
college
affordability
concerns
for
middle-income
families,”
Coffin
said.

Dartmouth’s
expansion
of

financial
aid
awards
for
undergraduates,
which
goes
in
effect
in
the
next
academic
year,
was
funded
by
a
$150
million
donation
from
the
late

Glenn
Britt,
marking
the
largest
gift
dedicated
entirely
to
scholarships
in
the
school’s
history.

Roughly
two
dozen
schools
already
have “no-loan”
policies,
which
means
they
are
eliminating student
loans altogether
from
their
financial
aid
packages,
according
to
data
from
The
Princeton
Review.

Among
the
schools
on
The
Princeton
Review’s “The
Best
389
Colleges”
list,
23
promise
to
meet
100%
of
their
undergraduates’
financial
need
with
grants
rather
than
education
debt.

Of
course,
even
without
loans,
students
may
still
be
on
the
hook
for
the
expected
family
contribution,
as
well
as
other
costs,
including
books
and
fees.
There
could
also
be
a
work-study
requirement,
depending
on
the
school.

Even
if
a
school
has
a
no-loan
policy,
that
also
does
not
prevent
a
student
or
family
from
borrowing
money
to
help
cover
their
contribution,
according
to
Jerry
Inglet,
a
family
legacy
advisor at
Wilmington
Trust
in
Buffalo,
New
York.

“No
loan
is
a
misnomer
at
best,”
he
said.

When
picking
colleges,
Inglet
advises
students
and
families
to
also
consider
a “financial
safety
school”
in
the
application
process,
which
could
offer
more

merit-based
aid
and
bring
the
total
cost
down.

“I
would
have
a
wide
net
of
possibilities
that
include
a
number
of
schools
that
are
both
academic
and
financial
safety
schools,”
he
said.

To
determine
which
schools
may
be
the
more
affordable
options,
the
U.S.
Department
of
Education’s

college
scorecard
and
each
school’s
net
price
calculator
can
help.

Also,
have
a
conversation
about
your
family’s
financial
capacity
at
the
outset
so
students
have
realistic
expectations
of
which
schools
are
within
reach,
Inglet
said.

“Set
the
guardrails
early,”
he
added.

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