Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 2/27/08 Section: News
Differing aid policies lead to similar results | Interactive Feature
Brown, Stanford eliminate tuition payments for some; U. says payments at Penn basically the same
Alyssa Schwenk
Brown and Stanford universities' announcements of free tuition, room and board for undergraduates below a certain income level sound impressive - but Penn's program is already very similar.
In the past week, both Stanford and Brown announced expanded financial-aid policies that increase the amount of grant aid given to qualified students.
They join the ranks of Penn, Yale and Harvard universities and Swarthmore, Pomona and Haverford colleges, all of which announced redesigned aid plans earlier this school year. Penn announced its new plan on Dec. 17.
Brown's plan, announced Feb. 23, ensures that most families earning under $60,000 a year will not be expected to contribute to their student's education and eliminates loans for students from families earning less than $100,000 a year.
Stanford's program, announced Feb. 20, eliminates tuition, room and board payments for students coming from families with incomes less than $60,000. Students from families with incomes less than $100,000 will not be required to pay tuition. Those in both brackets will still have student-contribution components to the packages.
While the promise of a tuition-free education is certainly appealing, Penn's program, which gradually replaces loans with grants for all aid-eligible students, essentially offers the same aid to students, Bill Schilling, Penn's director of student financial aid, said.
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alounder
Andy
posted 2/27/08 @ 11:03 AM EST
I know we all like to think Penn is independent and leading the world. The truth is, no one is leading the world on this. We're all dragging our feet and placating congress so that they don't start dipping their fingers into our coffers at will (revoking tax-exempt status, requiring us to spend a proportion of our endowments, etc. (Continued…)
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