Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., announced Nov. 1 that, taking effect for the 2008-'09 school year, the college will issue its own grants, said Jim Kolesar, assistant to the president for public affairs at Williams College.,”In attempts to create an equal opportunity for students to receive a college education, some schools are eliminating student loans and replacing them with university-issued grants.
Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., announced Nov. 1 that, starting with the 2008-'09 school year, the college will issue its own grants, said Jim Kolesar, assistant to the president for public affairs at Williams College.
An institutional grant is a need-based scholarship.
Williams officials made the decision in attempt to be fair to families from all financial backgrounds and diversify the student body, he said.
Kolesar said school officials realized few low-income students attend Williams College.
"We always knew our student body was skewed towards more affluent students," Kolesar said.
College fees for tuition, room and board for the 2007-'08 school year totaled $45,140, according to the Williams Web site.
Williams' financial aid formula is a combination of family income and assets, Kolesar said.
Financial aid at Marquette is similarly determined, said Anne Broeker, senior media relations specialist for Marquette.
"With the cost of education rising, financial aid is a priority in the university's campaign to make a Marquette education affordable to all qualified students," Broeker said.
The total financial aid to Marquette students is approximately $165 million per year, Broeker said. Of that, student loan totals make up approximately $90 million per year, she said.
Marquette offers one institutional grant, the Marquette Grant.
Broeker said nothing of Marquette going to an institutional grant-only system, but she said in order to remain competitive, Marquette offers a variety of financial aid packages through scholarships, loans, grants and work-study programs.
The amount of aid a school can make available to students depends on the size of the school and its endowment and budget, she said.
Kolesar added that replacing all student loans with university grants takes money.
"We have been blessed enough to be able to afford it and it seems like it will make a difference for our students," Kolesar said. "But not (every university) will be able to afford it."
The new grant program will take 0.1 percent, or $1.8 million, out of the Williams College endowment, Kolesar said.
Williams isn't the only school abandoning student loans for institutional grants. Princeton University was the first to eliminate loans from financial aid packages in 2001, and the same plan took effect this year at Davidson College in Charlotte, N.C., according to the schools' respective Web sites.
Amherst College in Amherst, Mass., will institute the new financial aid package for the 2008-'09 academic year, according to the college's Web site.
Stacey Schmeidel, director of college communications at Davidson College, said many high school students do not consider applying to schools like Davidson because of the initial "sticker shock" of more than $40,000 in tuition and fees.
"The hope is this initiative will help families better understand that Davidson wants the most talented students to apply," said Schmeidel. "We don't want cost to be a factor."
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