10 Colleges That Don’t Require Student Loans

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published 6 September 2015

A college or university that includes a liberal allotment of loans in its financial aid package isn’t doing you any favors. After all, you’ll have to repay that money, which isn’t the case with grants and scholarships.

In recent years, though, about six dozen schools have adopted “no-loan” policies whereby grants replace loans in their financial aid packages. Some colleges limit no-loan packages to students whose family income falls below specific levels (such as $60,000 a year). Others have eliminated loans for all students who are eligible for financial aid.

The programs don’t necessarily eliminate loans altogether. The financial aid package is based on a school’s estimate of what the family can afford to pay. Some families can’t or choose not to pay the full amount, which means the student must borrow to make up the difference. And some students borrow to cover costs that aren’t included in the budget covered by their financial aid packages, such as health insurance and laptop computers.

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Lists College Rankings

1. Yale University

Location: New Haven, Conn.
Total annual cost: $60,850
Avg. need-based aid: $44,268
Total net cost: $16,582
Kiplinger’s combined rank: #2
Percent of students with loans: 16%

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2. Vanderbilt University

Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Total annual cost: $60,294
Avg. need-based aid: $39,373
Total net cost: $20,921
Kiplinger’s combined rank: #15
Percent of students with loans: 22%

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3. Davidson College

Location: Davidson, N.C.
Total annual cost: $59,146
Avg. need-based aid: $33,717
Total net cost: $25,429
Kiplinger’s combined rank: #24
Percent of students with loans: 22%

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4. Princeton University

Location: Princeton, N.J.
Total annual cost: $59,165
Avg. need-based aid: $37,183
Total net cost: $21,982
Kiplinger’s combined rank: #1
Percent of students with loans: 24%

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5. Harvard University

Location: Cambridge, Mass.
Total annual cost: $59,607
Avg. need-based aid: $41,975
Total net cost: $17,632
Kiplinger’s combined rank: #6
Percent of students with loans: 26%

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6. Amherst College

Location: Amherst, Mass.
Total annual cost: $62,206
Avg. need-based aid: $45,604
Total net cost: $16,602
Kiplinger’s combined rank: #11
Percent of students with loans: 29%

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7. Bowdoin College

Location: Brunswick, Maine
Total annual cost: $60,400
Average need-based aid: $40,025
Total net cost: $20,375
Kiplinger’s combined rank: #13
Percentage of students with loans: 31%

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8. Pomona College

Location: Claremont, Calif.
Total annual cost: $61,432
Average need-based aid: $43,486
Total net cost: $17,946
Kiplinger’s combined rank: #9
Percentage of students with loans: 33%

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9. Swarthmore College

Location: Swarthmore, Pa.
Total annual cost: $60,840
Average need-based aid: $38,701
Total net cost: $22,139
Kiplinger’s combined rank: #3
Percentage of students with loans: 36%

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10. University of Pennsylvania

Location: Philadelphia
Total annual cost: $62,352
Average need-based aid: $38,258
Total net cost: $24,094
Kiplinger’s combined rank: #26
Percentage of students with loans: 36%

UPenn officials say the school’s no-loan policy, which extends to all undergrads who qualify for financial aid, helps the school enroll students who would otherwise rule out an Ivy League education. Loans are still available for students who don’t want to hold down work-study jobs or need money for expenses not included in the standard cost of attendance, such as health insurance and summer school.

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Block joined Kiplinger in June 2012 from USA Today, where she was a reporter and personal finance columnist for more than 15 years. Prior to that, she worked for the Akron Beacon-Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. In 1993, she was a Knight-Bagehot fellow in economics and business journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She has a BA in communications from Bethany College in Bethany, W.Va.