Help with Student Loans
January 17, 2008
Parents and college students may find some relief soon in college tuition levels. Many schools are deciding to either completely eliminate student debt or at least decrease the amounts of debt students carry. Some of this decision can be attributed to pressure coming from Washington.
Some examples of how this is working out include: Williams College recently announced it will eliminate loans from all financial-aid packages. This is to begin next year, with the school using grants rather than loans. Davidson College as well as Amherst College will be instituting similar policies.
Many other schools are finding innovative ways to minimize student debt. For example, Colby College, a private school in Waterville, Maine, has reported that it will begin to eliminate loans for Maine residents starting next fall. Emory University located in Georgia recently announced its “Emory Advantage” program. This program eliminates loans for undergraduate students whose families earn less than $50,000 a year. In addition, it also caps total loan volume at $15,000 over four years for those families with an annual income of up to $100,000.
Just last year, Harvard University expanded its low-income program and now includes families that earn as much as $80,000. Columbia University is expected to begin programs that will replace loans with grant money for students whose families earn less than $50,000 a year.
The bottom line is that many who could not afford college in the past may be able to do so now