HARRISON HAMM, Staff Writer—
President Adam Weinberg confirmed this week that Denison is looking into becoming a “no-loan” university in the future. The goal would be to replace student loans with grants in financial aid packages, limiting or eliminating debt for students after they graduate.
“It would be really great to become a no-loan college,” Weinberg said. “We’re in pretty serious conversations with the board. I’d be very surprised if we don’t agree to start down that journey.”
He acknowledged that such a plan would be expensive. He noted that Denison would need to raise $80 million of new endowment dollars, and “about $130 million of total endowment dollars” so that Denison’s financial aid packages could become grants instead of loans.
Much of Weinberg’s tenure as President has been focused on increasing affordability and accessibility. In the last couple of years, Denison has become one of the few colleges in the country that meets one hundred percent of a student’s demonstrated need — only 75 colleges, out of 4,000, are part of that group. They have also worked to alleviate other financial stressors for students, resulting in more affordable study abroad programs and increased funding for student internships.
Even among colleges that meet all of a student’s demonstrated needs, loan debt still exists. A comprehensive no-loan plan would be a big step forward, and a rare one for colleges around the country. Ohio State is currently trialing a “debt-free degree” program, with 125 first-year students participating in a pilot program that involves increased work opportunities and financial literacy classes. According to Vice President of Admissions Greg Sneed, only 15 other colleges in the United States have become full no-loan institutions.
“The vast majority of students are stressing financially to be here,” Weinberg said. “I think we have an ethical obligation to get students through with as little debt as possible.”
A no-loan program would be a heavy financial undertaking, and for that reason, it will be a few years before it can be put in place. But Weinberg said that there is wide support for the plan among the administration and the board.
“I think replacing loans with grants is the next logical step for us,” Weinberg said. He said that they will start the “quiet phases” this year as part of their new capital campaign, with the “public phases” coming over the next few years.
“I’d be very surprised if financially it wasn’t the top item we’re raising money for.”
Weinberg noted that in a plan like this, debt would not necessarily be eliminated. Similar to Ohio State, students may still decide to take out loans depending on their individual situation. Sneed is confident that under this potential plan, loans would be greatly reduced or nearly eliminated for lower and middle class students.
As it stands now, the federal government factors $5,500 of expected loans into a first-year student’s cost of attendance, with that number increasing over time to a total of $27,000 by the end of their senior year. With Denison covering 100 percent of demonstrated financial need, Sneed said that “at least 80 percent” of students who receive need-based financial aid are taking on only those expected loans — meaning that their debt is $27,000 or less. A no-loan program would eliminate those expected loans and replace them with grants.
“It should completely eliminate the need for loans for most low-income students,” Sneed said.“It’s something we’re really interested in doing as an institution if we’re able to raise the money.”
Sneed acknowledged that due to the financial immensity of the plan, it is possible that Denison could settle for something less than a full no-loan plan that helps “at least a portion of the population,” starting with lower-income students and building out.
Weinberg has been pushing for more generous financial aid packages as president of Denison, and wrote a piece in the Los Angeles Times last year arguing that improved college affordability is a necessary step to solve income inequality in America.
“Colleges with resources should use their large and growing endowments to replace loans with grants that don’t need to be paid back,” he wrote in August of 2021. “A university shouldn’t be measured by how plush its dorms are or how grand the athletic facilities seem, but by how generous its financial aid packages are.”
The future no-loan program will be the “focal point” of the next capital campaign. Weinberg said that he will meet with donors this week to talk about the program, and that they should have a better sense by the end of this academic year on “what’s going to be realistic in this campaign.”
“I think college access and affordability, from my perspective, is one of the top two or three issues in higher ed,” Weinberg said. “Denison is already a leader and I want us to become even more of a leader.”