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Sep 19
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As we previously noted in ‘Be a GREAT high school student: The best strategy for lowering higher education costs, Ivy League insitutions continue replace grant aid for loans for Low-Income Students’. The latest Ivy to do so is Columbia University.
Columbia announced today that it will replace loans with grants for undergraduates from families that earn less than $50,000 a year, beginning with the academic year 2007-08. Other Ivy League universities that have replaced loans with grants for low-income students in recent years include Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale. Stanford also implemented a similar policy.
Lee C. Bollinger, Columbia’s president, said in a statement, “While full tuition and fees only cover about half the real cost of providing this kind of excellent academic experience, we understand that the price remains dauntingly high to most families.” Columbia officials said that even though the campus already has the most socio-economically diverse student body in the Ivy League, the move to replace loans with grants for low-income students will enhance that diversity further.
Want a great education at no or little cost, be a GREAT student. Get admitted to schools like the ones above which are committed to satisfying 100% of financial need with GRANTS. Even for families with incomes great than $50,000, academic achievement will lead to more mert aid irrespective of financial need. Plus, you will have more options and schools from which to choose.
Should students and their families still save? ABSOLUTELY! Savings is a backup for not gaining admissions into these schools. Further, tax free withdrawls are available when a beneficiary earns a scholarship. Finally, The beneficiary can be changed to another family member or the savings can be applied to graduate school.
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