I usually don't blog about this, but I just randomly noticed that my reading today is dominated by Claremont McKenna speakers and students. I thought I would share.
Robert VerBruggen of Phi Beta Cons blogged about Claremont McKenna's decision to "kill student loans."
Here's the blog post via Phi Beta Cons.
The story, via Charles Johnson. Of course, in the past I've celebrated these attempts to make college affordable.
I've also asked the question: How far down the prestige chain will this trend work itself? Right now, it seems like only the wealthiest colleges can completely waive tuition for the poor and middle class, and the next tier, including Claremont McKenna, has to settle for replacing loans with grants.
It's a double whammy: Not only do the lower-tiered schools have less money, but they also (presumably) have a higher proportion of students from the income levels these programs tend to help. That's why, so far at least, you see such a steep dropoff from the Ivies (free tuition if your family makes less than $60,000) to the next tier (grants instead of loans, or even just a reduced amount of loans) to the next (same old tuition and loans).
I'm not sure quite what I think about his analysis. I'll have to give it more time.
