Dartmouth Reintroduces Loans in Financial Aid Program

Dartmouth College, whose endowment fell by 23 percent last year, announced yesterday that it will alter its no-loan financial aid program due to financial difficulties and will reintroduce loans for families whose income is between $75,000 and $200,000.

Financial aid for families within that income bracket will consist of scholarships, work-study, and a loan requirement ranging from $2,500 to $5,500 annually.

In addition, Dartmouth announced that beginning in 2010, juniors will be required to apply for funding for summer research and academic programs in order to ensure that the school’s funds are spent appropriately.

During the past two years, juniors who chose to pursue academic enrichment activities were automatically granted a “free summer term.”

But Dartmouth also said that it would increase its financial aid budget by 10 percent next year and noted that its tuition waiver and no-loan expectation will remain in effect for families who make under $75,000 a year.

The total cost of attending Dartmouth for the 2010-2011 school year—including tuition, mandatory fees, and room and board—will increase by 4.6 percent.

Under Harvard College’s current financial aid policy, families who make under $60,000 are not expected to contribute at all to the cost of attending college.

No undergraduates are expected to take out loans, and families who make between $60,000 and $180,000 are expected to contribute no more than 10 percent of their annual income toward college expenses.

Dartmouth’s financial aid announcement comes at a time when universities around the country are struggling with shrinking endowments and cutting expenses to adjust to new fiscal realities.

A report released earlier this year found that college endowments had decreased by an average of 18.7 percent during the year ending June 30, 2009.

Williams College also recently announced that it would reinstate loans as part of its financial aid policy.

—Staff writer Elias J. Groll can be reached at egroll@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer William N. White can be reached at wwhite@fas.harvard.edu.