Cornell University Debuts New Financial Aid Initiative

In times of economic turmoil, many colleges and universities have instituted a hiring freeze and looked for ways to cut their budgets. But Cornell University recently sweetened its need-based financial aid programs for low-income students.

Under the new plan, Cornell will eliminate the parental contribution for all students who come from families with incomes under $60,000 a year. In addition, no Cornell student on financial aid will be saddled with loans of more than $7,500 as part of their scholarship package. Students from families with incomes from $60,000 to $75,000 will not have loans in their financial aid package. And students from families with incomes between $75,000 and $120,000 will have a loan cap of $3,000 per year.

Cornell has a financial aid budget of $138.9 million in the current academic year.

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