Small colleges such as Davidson (about 1,700 students) in small towns tend to be insular communities, providing on campus virtually all the challenges and pleasures their students need. The students' thinking may be global, and they may spend their summers in Africa, but during the school year their life is mostly on campus.
Davidson President Bobby Jagt recently spoke of the Davidson "bubble" to describe the experience students have there. He's right, and there's nothing wrong with that, though I wish Davidson and its bright students were more involved in Charlotte.
What I admire about Davidson is that it has always unblushingly acknowledged that it has a high moral purpose. Its recent decision to offer needy students a debt-free education is in keeping with that tradition.
Founded by Presbyterians
Established by Presbyterians in 1837, the school is so familiar a part of the landscape here that people sometimes forget it has become one of the nation's very best liberal arts colleges.Not only does the annual U.S. News & World Report survey rank it among the top 10, so does Consumer Digest, which evaluates the quality of the education students get for their money.
The school attracts some of America's most promising students. Competition for a place in the freshman class is tough: Only a fourth of those who apply are admitted. Many of them do quite well indeed: Over the years 23 Davidson students have won Rhodes Scholarships.
This year its basketball team won the conference championship and went to the NCAA tournament, and -- bet you didn't know this -- Davidson's two-man croquet team (David Orsbon and Douglas Clark-Brown) recently won the national championship in croquet golf at the National Collegiate Croquet Tournament.
Going to Davidson isn't cheap -- $40,000-plus a year for tuition, room and board, books, etc. -- and a third of the students receive need-based financial aid.
That burden will soon get lighter. Major fund-raising efforts had enabled the school to cap loans at $3,000 a year, limiting student debt at graduation to $12,000. And last week a $15 million grant from the Duke Endowment enabled Davidson to do away with loans entirely, replacing them with grants so students can graduate debt-free. It's the first national liberal arts school to make that breakthrough.
The burden of student debt
The cost of college has been a big concern for the school. A study led by Christopher J. Gruber, vice president and dean of admission and financial aid, found that many students who'd need financial aid didn't apply to Davidson because of the "sticker shock" of its tuition cost.
The grants program is expected to make the school more attractive to students from low- and moderate-income families.
Other schools also have recognized the depressing effect of student debt. Princeton University earlier replaced student loans with grants to enable students to graduate debt-free. The Carolina Covenant offers the same promise to low-income students at UNC Chapel Hill.
Nationwide, two-thirds of college students borrow to pay for education, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, using data from the College Board. For students graduating in 2003-2004, the latest data available, the average debt was $15,622 for public schools and $22,581 for private.
The debt burden can be heavy and long-lasting. A 22-year-old graduate with $40,000 in loans at a 6.125 percent interest rate would pay $243 a month until age 52 -- paying more in interest than the amount of the loan.
Hefty debt pushes students away from low-paying jobs in government or nonprofit organizations. It discourages many from going into teaching.
A challenge to the nation
Davidson's grant program won't make a big dent in the national problem, but it will help a few hundred students a year get a fine education. What's important is the decision's message: Family wealth should not determine who gets a college education.
The public universities should move in the same direction. Borrowing to go to school is a good investment, but a system that requires many students to take on onerous debt is wrong-headed and destructive for a nation whose well-being requires an educated citizenry.Labels: education online, financial aid, free college, free education, scholarship, student loans, study abroad |
