Brown University drops tuition, loans for less affluent students

Jet, March 17, 2008 by Marti Parham

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Brown University recently announced that students from families with incomes below $60,000 will not be expected to help pay for their child's education at the institution.

Also starting this fall, families with incomes under $100,000 will no longer have loans as part of their financial aid package; they'll be replaced by grants. The new policy, announced on the school's Web site, reduces reliance on loans for all financial aid students, regardless of income. The plan applies to current students as well as this fall's incoming class.

"Since 2001, Brown has made financial aid for students one of our highest priorities. Every year, with strong support from the Brown Corporation, we have taken steps to ensure that our financial aid programs are competitive and effective," said the university's President Ruth Simmons in an online statement. "Today, we take another major step forward to ensure that our nation's best students from lower- and middle-income families can attend Brown and graduate without the enormous burden of college debt."

About 40 percent of Brown's undergraduates receive financial aid from the university at a cost of $57 million.

Plans to increase tuition by 3.9 percent were also announced by Brown, which is in Providence, RI. For the 2008-09 academic year, undergrad students will pay $36,928. A year's tuition with room and board and health services will cost $47,740.

"We recognize and understand the concerns of America's families about the rising cost of higher education," Simmons said. "With our new aid package and a smaller increase in tuition, we hope to address their concerns in a fiscally responsible manner while continuing to attract the best students with diverse backgrounds to Brown."