Brown to replace student loans with grants

Brown University plans to replace student loans with financial grants that do not have to be repaid.

Brown announced Wednesday that the university was launching a fundraising campaign to completely remove student loans from financial aid packages for current and incoming undergraduate students, with plans to start next academic year if the university meets a key fundraising goal.

The Ivy League school’s move would remove the burden of paying back student loans from Brown graduates.

{mosads}“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 President Christina Paxson said in a release.

“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.”

The university plans to raise $120 million for the initiative as part of its $3 billion fundraising campaign launched in 2015.

Brown will add $4.5 million to its financial aid budget each year to cover the roughly 6,500 undergraduates currently enrolled, according to the release.

—Updated at 6:13 p.m.