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NAICU President David Warren Comments on Amherst College's Decision to Eliminate Student Loans

July 20, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 2007

CONTACT: Tony Pals, tony@naicu.edu
office: (202) 739-0474 cell: (202) 288-9333

Statement by David L. Warren, President,
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
on Amherst College's Elimination of Student Loans

July 20, 2007

Amherst College's decision to replace all loans with grants is a bold move that will help ensure access to an affordable, world-class education for students of modest means. It speaks forcefully about Amherst's deep commitment to educational equality.

The announcement will undoubtedly grab the attention of every president and board of directors in the nation, as they wrestle with how to keep their institutions accessible to an increasingly needy student population. While few of America's 1,500 private colleges and universities have the financial resources to follow Amherst's extraordinary example, the move adds kindling to the robust national conversation on these issues.

Amherst's decision not only follows similar moves by Princeton University and Davidson College, but is a dramatic example of the quiet revolution underway at the nation's private colleges and universities. In recent years, independent institutions have redoubled their efforts to ensure that student out-of-pocket costs remain as low as possible.

As individual institutional financial constraints allow, private colleges and universities are adopting enterprising approaches that are as diverse as private higher education itself. These innovative initiatives include cutting or freezing tuition, guaranteeing incoming students a four-year lock on tuition, reducing expected student and family contributions, eliminating loans for low-income students, and others.

Examples of institutional affordability initiatives are available on the NAICU web site at http://www.naicu.edu/docLib/20070720_enhancing_affordability_07-07.pdf.

The online compilation also lists examples of how private colleges and universities are taking a page from the business world to control underlying costs and enhance operating efficiency. Initiatives include, but are not limited to, streamlining administration; outsourcing services; green-friendly construction and retrofitting; employee incentives to cut costs; and metropolitan, state, and national purchasing and academic consortia.

The actions of Amherst represent in a dramatic way the responsibility our institutions feel to use resources judiciously to best serve students. They are committed to enhancing access and affordability, and providing the best education possible for students from all backgrounds.

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