No Loans for Students at Williams College

The president of Williams College announced today that the college’s Board of Trustees had approved a plan to replace all loans with grants in students’ financial-aid packages. The new policy, with an estimated annual cost of $1.8-million, applies to all current and future students.

In an e-mail message announcing the decision, Morton O. Schapiro, president of Williams, wrote: “This move … is based on our growing sense that loans, even small ones, affect a range of student decisions, from which colleges they consider attending to which post-college careers they pursue.”

A spokesman for the college said the new policy would be financed through a combination of sources, including donations, tuition, and endowment revenue. Williams has a $1.89-billion endowment.

Other institutions, including Princeton University, Amherst College, and Davidson College, have taken similar steps in recent years. —Elizabeth F. Farrell