<p>Beginning the 2008-2009 Amherst College will join a handful of need-based colleges that will no longer require students to take out loans. How will this affect the middle-class? You be the judge:
<a href="http://www.amherst.edu/%7Epubaff/news/news_releases/2007_2008/2007_07no%20loans.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.amherst.edu/~pubaff/news/news_releases/2007_2008/2007_07no%20loans.html</a></p>
<p>When word of this trickles out, it will be even tougher to get into Amherst.</p>
<p>It would be one of the wierdest ironies of all time if it didn't.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see if this forces similar action from some of Amherst's competitors. By the way does anyone have a current list of who is doing this?</p>
<p>I was thinking the same thing, a chart for loan free, need-based programs, starting with the highest AFC affected and listing them in descending order. I'm pretty sure HYP would be on the high-end. Perhaps Stanford. Not many.</p>
<p>Definitely moves Amherst into serious consideration for my S.</p>
<p>The only other schools I know of with the no loan policy for all those receiving financial aid are Princeton (for a few years now) and Davidson (announced this year).
In the case of Davidson, this is deceptive if people assume too much. There is a low percentage of students receiving financial aid in the first place, and their financial aid is not otherwise generous. Do they have need blind admissions? I don't know.
Amherst, of course, is the real deal.</p>
<p>The Davidson website says their admissions are need-blind.</p>
<p>I skimmed the article - - making the college accessible to families w/ incomes under $40K. At most colleges, finaid is offered to families earning upwards of $100K - - as a poster on another thread noted $65K may technically put one in the top 30% of household incomes, in many cities, $60K doesn' go very far.</p>
<p>nyc...
I'm not certain what your perspective is. Princeton is similar to Amherst, and at Princeton almost 40% of those receiving Princeton scholarships have family incomes of $100,000 or more.
The no loan policies at Amherst and Princeton apply to these people, too. This does not apply just to those with incomes of $65,000 or less.</p>
<p>I just found it interesting that the first income figure in the article was in ref to making the college (which costs more than $40K) accessible to families w/ incomes less than $40K. </p>
<p>Anyway, I always have mixed feelings about this. I think it's terrible for kids to be saddled w/ big loan debt. OTOH, I certainly don't see anything wrong w/ a student contrib to his own educat to the tune of $4K/yr (about the current annual max for fed gauranteed student loans) and a work-study campus job.</p>
<p>was in Amherst last week. They made it quite clear that the no-loan policy is targeted at middle class kids. Indeed, as mini has pointed out, the biggest beneficiaries HAVE to be middle class kids since Amherst and Princeton accept few Pell Grantees.</p>
<p>^^^when did mini point that out?</p>
<p>mini has pointed out that P'ton's no-loan policy is really a price reduction for the middle class numerous times. Amherst's is no different, IMO.</p>
<p>Is there a strict definition for "middle class?"</p>
<p>^^I meant the part about accepting few Pell Grant recipients. Most places average around 10-12% Pell recipients and they account for the bulk of finaid budgets at many top schools (see, Washington Monthly college rankings.)</p>
<p>"the biggest beneficiaries HAVE to be middle class kids since Amherst and Princeton accept few Pell Grantees."</p>
<p>And because Pell Grantees don't receive loans at all. My FA package with Amherst is entirely grants. </p>
<p>However, Amherst accepts a fairly large portion of Pell Grant receipients, relatively. It's a large mission for the college.</p>
<p>This only helps families with fairly low EFCs, and I don't know of too many of them in the $75,000 - $125,000 range with one kid in college (the range that still can't swing $45K/year). I think all it really does is what it purports to do - it eliminates a loan burden ON KIDS THAT QUALIFY FOR FINANCIAL AID. If you still don't qualify (or only qualify for a very small amount) it makes no difference at all.</p>