Several High-Ranking Universities Beef Up Financial Aid Programs

Four of the nation’s highest-ranking universities have joined the growing list of highly selective educational institutions that have increased their budgets for student financial aid.

Stanford University announced that students from families with incomes below $100,000 will no longer have to pay tuition. Students from families with incomes below $60,000 will no longer have to pay tuition or room and board. Stanford will also eliminate loans from financial aid packages for all students and replace them with outright scholarship grants. The university’s total financial aid budget for the 2008-09 academic year will increase to about $114 million.

Washington University in St. Louis announced that it will eliminate all loans from financial aid packages for students from families with incomes below $60,000. Scholarship grants will replace loans for these students. The university states that the new plan will add $2.5 million to its financial aid budget for the 2008-09 academic year.

The latest JBHE data shows that only 6.4 percent of students at Washington University are eligible for federal Pell Grants, which are reserved for low-income students. This is the lowest percentage of Pell Grant recipients among the nation’s 30 highest-ranked universities.

Brown University has eliminated loans from financial aid packages for all students from families with incomes below $100,000. Students from families with incomes below $60,000 will no longer be expected to make a financial contribution to fund their child’s education.

At Northwestern University, the student financial aid budget will increase by $8 million to $78 million. This increase will allow the university to substitute scholarship grants for loans for students from low- and middle-income families.

Copyright © 2008. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.