More than six dozen U.S. colleges and universities have adopted no-loans financial aid policies. These policies eliminate loans from the financial aid packages of low-income students, replacing them with grants and work-study. Some of the colleges have extended their no-loans financial aid policies to also include middle-income students and some to all student aid recipients, not just low-income students.
Students can still borrow for their share of the college costs, so a no-loans financial aid policy does not eliminate all student debt. However, the percentage of students graduating with debt and the average debt at graduation tend to be much lower than at colleges that include loans in the financial aid package. For example, the average debt at graduation at Princeton University – the college that started the no-loans trend in 1998-1999 – had an average debt at graduation of around $9,000 in 2017, with only 17% of undergraduate students graduating with student loan debt.
Two dozen of the college no-loans financial aid policies began as free tuition policies. Several colleges have found that no-loans and free tuition policies can help motivate donations from alumni.
Most of the no-loans policies are based on a comparison of adjusted gross income (AGI) with a specific dollar amount. A few are based on a comparison with a multiple of the poverty line.
Two colleges have subsequently dropped their no-loans financial aid policies. Carleton College ended its no-loans financial aid policy starting in fall 2012 and Claremont McKenna College ended its no-loans policy in fall 2014.
Alabama
- None
Alaska
- None
Arizona
- Arizona State University (AGI < $25,000)
- University of Arizona (AZ residents with AGI < $42,400 who are Pell Grant recipients)
Arkansas
- None
California
- California Institute of Technology (Caltech) (AGI < $60,000)
- Pomona College (all students)
- Stanford University (all students)
- University of California at Berkeley
- University of California System (AGI < $60,000)
Colorado
- Colorado State University-Pueblo (CO residents with AGI < $50,000 who are Pell Grant recipients)
Connecticut
- Connecticut College (AGI < $50,000 and EFC < 5000)
- Fairfield University (Bridgeport high school graduates with AGI < $50,000)
- Sacred Heart University (Fairfield County, CT high school graduates with AGI < $50,000)
- Wesleyan University (AGI < $60,000)
- Yale University (all students)
Delaware
- None
Florida
- University of Florida (FL residents with AGI < $40,000)
Georgia
- Emory University (AGI < $50,000)
- Georgia Institute of Technology (GA residents with AGI < $33,300)
Hawaii
- None
Idaho
- None
Illinois
- Northern Illinois University (IL residents who are Pell Grant recipients)
- Northwestern University (AGI < $55,000 who are Pell Grant recipients)
- University of Chicago (all students)
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (IL residents with AGI < poverty line and zero EFC)
Indiana
- Indiana University Bloomington (IN residents with AGI < 185% of the poverty line)
Iowa
- Grinnell College (all students)
Kansas
- None
Kentucky
- University of Louisville (KY residents with AGI < 150% poverty line)
Louisiana
- None
Maine
- Bowdoin College (all students)
- Colby College (all students)
Maryland
- Johns Hopkins University (all students)
- University of Maryland, College Park (zero EFC students)
Massachusetts
- Amherst College (all students)
- Boston University (Boston residents who graduate from Boston public schools)
- College of Holy Cross (Worcester, MA) (Worcester residents with AGI < $50,000)
- Harvard University (all students)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (AGI < $75,000)
- Tufts University (AGI < $60,000)
- Wellesley College (AGI < $60,000)
- Williams College (AGI < $75,000)
Michigan
- Michigan State University (AGI < poverty line)
- University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (MI residents with zero EFC)
Minnesota
- University of Minnesota System (MN residents with AGI < $100,000)
Mississippi
- None
Missouri
- College of the Ozarks (all students)
- Washington University in St. Louis (AGI < $75,000)
Montana
- None
Nebraska
- None
New Hampshire
- Dartmouth College (AGI < $100,000)
New Jersey
- Princeton University (all students)
New Mexico
- None
New York
- Columbia University (all students)
- Cornell University (AGI < $60,000 and assets < $100,000)
- Vassar College (AGI < $60,000)
North Carolina
- Appalachian State University (NC residents with AGI < poverty line)
- Davidson College (all students)
- Duke University (AGI < $40,000)
- North Carolina State University (AGI < 150% of the poverty line)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (AGI < 200% of the poverty line)
North Dakota
- None
Ohio
- Kenyon College
- Miami University (Ohio) (AGI < $35,000)
- Oberlin College (Pell Grant recipients)
- University of Toledo (OH public school graduates who are Pell Grant recipients)
Oklahoma
- None
Oregon
- None
Pennsylvania
- Haverford College (AGI < $60,000)
- Lafayette College (AGI < $50,000)
- Lehigh University (AGI < $75,000)
- Swarthmore College (all students)
- University of Pennsylvania (all students)
Rhode Island
- Brown University (all students)
South Carolina
- None
South Dakota
- None
Tennessee
- Bryan College (TN residents with AGI < $35,000)
- University of Tennessee (TN residents with AGI < 150% of the poverty line)
- Vanderbilt University (all students)
Texas
- Lamar University (TX residents with AGI < $25,000 who are Pell Grant recipients)
- Rice University (AGI < $80,000)
- Texas A&M University (TX residents with AGI < $60,000)
- Texas State University – San Marcos (TX residents with AGI < $25,000)
- University of Texas at El Paso (TX residents with AGI < $30,000)
Utah
- None
Vermont
- University of Vermont (VT residents who are Pell Grant recipients)
Virginia
- College of William and Mary (VA residents with AGI < $40,000)
- University of Virginia (AGI < 200% of the poverty line)
- Washington and Lee University (all students)
Washington
- University of Washington (AGI < 235% of the poverty line who are Pell Grant recipients)
West Virginia
- None
Wisconsin
- None
Wyoming
- None
See also:
- Complete Guide to Work-Study
- Complete Guide to Scholarships
- Complete Guide to Financial Aid and the FAFSA
- U.S. Colleges with Free Tuition
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