Financial Aid / No Loan Policy
Saying No to Debt

Pomona College will eliminate all loans in financial aid packages and replace the amounts with scholarships, effective fall 2008. The change, which will apply to both returning and future students, was approved by the College’s Board of Trustees in December. “Pomona has a long-standing tradition of accessibility,” notes President David W. Oxtoby. “We admit students without regard to financial need and meet the full need of every accepted applicant. This change will allow us to more directly address misperceptions about the affordability of a Pomona education and to remove any impact of student debt on students’ career choices.”

Currently, 53 percent of Pomona’s students receive some aid, with 10 percent of the current freshman class already receiving financial aid packages including no loan. In 2007-08, Pomona will spend approximately $21.6 million of college funds on scholarships. The College estimates that the new policy will cost an additional $2.3 million per year.

Miriam Ayoo ’11 was “greatly relieved” to hear of the new policy. “I was about to start looking for outside scholarships because I didn’t want to take extra loans.”

In each of the last 20 years, more than 50 percent of Pomona students have received financial aid. Since 1988, financial aid packages for students with the most financial need have not included loans during the students’ first two years of study. For the last five years, Pomona College has increased financial aid spending by $1 million or more each year.