Oberlin College Boosts Financial Aid for Low-Income Students

Oberlin College is eliminating all loans in financial aid packages for incoming and returning students who are eligible for federal Pell Grants. These students will now receive outright scholarship grants. About 50 students in each entering class at Oberlin are Pell Grant recipients. The new program, called the Oberlin Access Initiative, was made possible by a gift from trustee Clyde McGregor. Oberlin College will spend $41.3 million on financial aid in the coming year. This is an increase of 280 percent over the past 14 years.

Oberlin was one of the first predominantly white colleges to admit black students. The college was also very active in the abolitionist movement. Today, blacks are 5 percent of the student body at Oberlin.