Brown University to Eliminate Student Loans, Replace Them with Grants

Brown University plans to eliminate student loans from financial aid packages and replace them with grants that students do not have to pay back.

The Ivy League school announced the beginning of a new fundraising campaign Wednesday that would enable the school to provide need-based aid to its current and future undergraduates without burdening them with student loans.

The university plans to start providing loan-free aid to its students as early as the 2018-2019 academic year if it meets its fundraising goal.

“We’re committed to making a Brown education accessible to students from all income groups, so we can continue to accept the very best and brightest students from around the world,” Brown University President Christina Paxson said in a statement.

“When students and their families are sitting at their dining room tables making decisions about where to apply to college, or whether to accept an offer of admission, we want them to know that Brown is an affordable choice,” Paxson added.

The university is looking to raise $120 million to cover this initiative, which is part of a $3 billion fundraising campaign the school launched in 2015.

Brown will have to raise an additional $4.5 million per year for its financial aid budget to cover its undergraduate population of roughly 6,500 students.

The Ivy League school also made headlines this week when it announced that administrators accepted a $300,000 grant from the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) to offer segregated dinners for Muslim and black students.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Newman’s Own Foundation, both foundations with a history of donating to left-wing organizations and causes, funded the grant.

The university also accepted a $5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health in January to study whether fraternity boys drink more than their peers who do not partake in Greek Life.