College offers degree without debt

Davidson to give grants, not loans

Davidson College will eliminate loans from its financial-aid packages, enabling those students to graduate without debt, college officials announced Monday.

The move, expected to cost Davidson $3.5 million a year, follows the lead of some Ivy League universities but is apparently a first among the nation's prominent liberal arts colleges.

About one-third of Davidson students get need-based financial aid consisting of grants, loans and student employment. The college will replace the loans with grants, which do not have to be repaid. Student jobs will not be eliminated under the new policy, which takes effect in August.

"A Davidson education should be affordable for all students, regardless of means," Davidson President Robert Vagt said in a news release.

A growing list of colleges and universities give grants instead of loans to the poorest students. Last week, UNC-Wilmington announced a program called Seahawks SOAR, which will provide grants to 500 students whose family incomes are less than 1 1/2 times the federal poverty level. UNC-Chapel Hill was among the first in the nation with its Carolina Covenant, implemented in the fall of 2004 and since copied by other large public universities. N.C. State started its own version, dubbed the Pack Promise.

Nationally, more than two dozen universities offer similar financial aid programs for poor students.

The Davidson deal will apply to anyone who qualifies for financial aid at the 1,700-student college near Charlotte. Davidson trustees hope to raise more than $70 million for a special endowed fund to support the program.

Chris Gruber, Davidson's vice president and dean of admission and financial aid, said the grant program would allow students to follow their hearts instead of their wallets when they start their careers.

"This hopefully is going to empower our students to do some great things in the future," Gruber said.

Tuition, room and board at Davidson this year is $38,784. The high price tag no doubt has scared away students, even though Davidson has increased its spending on financial aid in recent years, Gruber said.

"They weren't even applying because they thought Davidson was unaffordable," he said.

College officials expect the proportion of financially needy students to grow because of the new program.

With tuition rising and U.S. population shifting, a larger share of students will come from minority and low-income groups. That awareness has prompted a national concern about the nation's economic future if more poor students don't gain access to higher education.

Gov. Mike Easley's budget plan last month proposed a scholarship that would provide state grants for needy students for two years of college, as long as they work 10 hours a week and keep their grades up. Under the plan, students who have completed the state's Learn and Earn program with two years of college credit could get their four-year degree at a state university debt-free. The Learn and Earn program allows students to stay in high school an extra year to take community college courses toward a two-year degree.