Columbia Amps Up Financial Aid Awards

Columbia University announced Tuesday that it will replace all loans with grants for students from families with yearly incomes of less than $50,000.

“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 President Lee C. Bollinger said in a statement. “The replacement of loans with grants for more students is another step in the right direction.”

In March 2006, Harvard eliminated the parental contribution for students from families making under $60,000 and significantly reduced the contribution from families in the $60,000 to $80,000 income bracket. Yale, Princeton and Stanford have implemented similar financial aid initiatives, each focused on either eliminating parental contribution or relieving student debt.

Director of Financial Aid Sally C, Donahue said she viewed the recent changes at Columbia as part of a collective effort among the Ivy League schools to increase accessibility for low and middle income students.

“What’s really important is that the message gets out nationally to talented students from all income backgrounds that it’s possible to attend Harvard, Yale or Columbia if you are offered admission and that finances should not be a barrier to apply,” she said.

According to Donahue, this effort has paid off in increasing the economic diversity of the student body.

“We have seen a 40 percent increase from [the Class of] 2008 to [the Class of ] 2010 in the number of students coming to Harvard from families with incomes of less than 40,000 dollars,” Donahue said. “We view that as a wonderful success and one that we feel is critically important to the future of the country.”

—Staff writer Margot E. Edelman can be reached at medelman@fas.harvard.edu.