WSJ: Schools cut back on fin-aid and loan-free aid

[FridaKahlo]

<p>Surprised to see Swarthmore mentioned in yesterday's WSJ that a number of schools have cut back on fin-aid, including loan-free aid.</p>

<p>Some</a> Schools Cut Student Grants, Scholarships - WSJ.com</p>

[swattiechick]

<p>This article really failed at defining what loan-free financial aid actually is. The way Swat and other no-loan schools work is that they calculate what each family can pay for college. Remember this is the college’s definition. The college then meets the gap between what the family can pay and the tuition and fees in grants only, not loans. HOWEVER, if a family believes that they cannot pay what the college expects them to pay, then they can meet that difference in private and subsidized loans if they so choose. Other colleges and universities include loans as a way to bridge the gap between expected family contribution and tuition. No loan schools do not do that. Even at colleges and universities with the very best financial aid, not every family is going to feel that they are able to pay their expected contribution. Either those students choose not to attend the college or they may take out loans. This is nothing new. There’s no reference to whether colleges are actually cutting back their financial aid policies.</p>

[Keilexandra]

<p>Unlike the other schools mentioned in the article, Swarthmore still offers loan-free financial aid packages to EVERY student who qualifies for aid. My family is middle income (<100k gross) but our income has actually gone up moderately in the two years that I’ve applied for aid as a returning student. My financial aid packages? Still amazing. I’ve seen a total of less than 1k increase in expected family contribution from my freshman year to, now, my junior year. And all three years, Swarthmore has beaten FAFSA’s EFC by several thousand dollars, most likely due to information collected on their own FA forms.</p>

<p>Do I know students who couldn’t afford to come back? Yes. But the combination of their unique circumstances and the college’s financial aid policy is just that, unique. The formula hasn’t changed.</p>

[johnwesley]

<p>

Here is a list of schools ranked according to a simple cost-benefits index. My measure of cost was the average net total price after subtracting federal, state, and local financial gift aid for families with incomes over $110K. My measure of benefits was the graduation rate for all freshmen (and therefore all the benefits associated with a high graduation rate). The index is simply grad rate divided by net cost times 1000. The higher the grad rate relative to cost, the higher the index. The higher the index, the better the school relative to cost.</p>

<p>

From the IPEDS, Spring 2010, Student Financial Aid component”</p>

<p>index, grad rate, total cost, average gift aid, school name</p>

<p>6.882 95 51878 33640 Amherst College
6.864 78 15830 6505 Brigham Young University
6.795 48 13812 5686 University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras Campus
5.893 97 52000 33276 Harvard University
5.658 95 52437 33574 Williams College
5.501 94 51668 31063 Pomona College
5.464 96 51260 34707 Princeton University
5.444 96 52950 36351 Yale University
5.272 89 53995 35221 Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
5.208 55 31800 19999 Christian Brothers University
5.162 92 45637 23148 Rice University
5.095 93 54294 31796 Columbia University in the City of New York
5.008 87 50530 26443 University of Richmond
4.988 93 52000 32352 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
4.939 93 51130 29022 Washington and Lee University
4.914 90 51898 32512 Wellesley College
4.909 95 52973 31897 Dartmouth College
4.855 66 21222 6849 University of Minnesota-Morris
4.847 91 54718 35150 Vanderbilt University
4.833 93 53450 31541 Vassar College
4.720 66 40325 25220 Presbyterian College
4.682 90 51920 27654 Colby College
4.666 95 54009 30558 Stanford University
4.655 93 52265 29620 Swarthmore College
4.635 88 52880 31101 Colgate University
4.554 93 52934 31281 Claremont McKenna College
4.540 94 53797 31850 Wesleyan University
4.517 92 53637 29391 Haverford College
4.509 94 53035 30036 Duke University
4.504 87 52034 28967 Bryn Mawr College
4.497 51 27266 5876 CUNY Queens College
4.481 86 53525 34927 Trinity College
4.455 56 14324 2696 Brigham Young University-Hawaii
4.452 83 41935 23412 Wofford College
4.440 67 23236 8101 Harding University
4.418 96 53250 25952 University of Pennsylvania
4.368 88 51660 29428 Hamilton College
4.214 91 54030 32073 Middlebury College
4.161 90 49572 26267 California Institute of Technology
4.160 96 52030 27814 Brown University
4.140 79 38680 18033 Westminster College
4.139 93 52900 30850 Bowdoin College
4.134 79 39440 17706 Austin College
4.127 93 52414 26237 Cornell University
4.108 60 34900 16719 Centenary College of Louisiana
4.095 96 51297 25626 University of Notre Dame
4.039 79 51800 29181 Reed College
4.034 88 47712 24147 Grinnell College
4.015 91 47805 24231 Davidson College
3.824 93 54290 27460 University of Chicago
3.676 91 53130 26568 Tufts University
3.657 87 49900 27218 Colorado College
3.415 82 52350 29299 Scripps College</p>