
A college or university that includes a liberal allotment of loans in its financial aid package isn't doing you any favors. After all, you'll have to repay that money, which isn't the case with grants and scholarships.
In recent years, though, about six dozen schools have adopted "no-loan" policies whereby grants replace loans in their financial aid packages. Some colleges limit no-loan packages to students whose family income falls below specific levels (such as
The programs don't necessarily eliminate loans altogether. The financial aid package is based on a school's estimate of what the family can afford to pay. Some families can't or choose not to pay the full amount, which means the student must borrow to make up the difference. And some students borrow to cover costs that aren't included in the budget covered by their financial aid packages, such as health insurance and laptop computers.
At no-loan schools, the percentage of students that borrow is much smaller, and those that graduate with loans have balances that are below the national average. The 10 schools on this list exclude loans from all financial-aid packages, with no income thresholds. Take a look.
1. Yale University
Location:
Total annual cost:
Avg. need-based aid:
Total net cost:
Kiplinger's combined rank: #2
Percent of students with loans: 16%
2. Vanderbilt University
Location:
Total annual cost:
Avg. need-based aid:
Total net cost:
Kiplinger's combined rank: #15
Percent of students with loans: 22%
3. Davidson College
Location:
Total annual cost:
Avg. need-based aid:
Total net cost:
Kiplinger's combined rank: #24
Percent of students with loans: 22%
While
4. Princeton University
Location:
Total annual cost:
Avg. need-based aid:
Total net cost:
Kiplinger's combined rank: #1
Percent of students with loans: 24%
5. Harvard University
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Total annual cost:
Avg. need-based aid:
Total net cost:
Kiplinger's combined rank: #6
Percent of students with loans: 26%
6. Amherst College
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Total annual cost:
Avg. need-based aid:
Total net cost:
Kiplinger's combined rank: #11
Percent of students with loans: 29%
While some schools have been forced to limit their no-loan packages to low-income families,
7. Bowdoin College
Location:
Total annual cost:
Average need-based aid:
Total net cost:
Kiplinger's combined rank: #13
Percentage of students with loans: 31%
Students will need to buy warm clothes to attend this liberal arts school (its mascot is a polar bear), but they won't need to borrow to pay for tuition.
8. Pomona College
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Total annual cost:
Average need-based aid:
Total net cost:
Kiplinger's combined rank: #9
Percentage of students with loans: 33%
Graduates may leave
9. Swarthmore College
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Total annual cost:
Average need-based aid:
Total net cost:
Kiplinger's combined rank: #3
Percentage of students with loans: 36%
10. University of Pennsylvania
Location:
Total annual cost:
Average need-based aid:
Total net cost:
Kiplinger's combined rank: #26
Percentage of students with loans: 36%
UPenn officials say the school's no-loan policy, which extends to all undergrads who qualify for financial aid, helps the school enroll students who would otherwise rule out an
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Sandra Block is a senior associate editor for Kiplinger's Personal Finance. .
