Starting next fall, Colby College will replace loans with grants in financial-aid packages for Maine residents. Colby’s president, William D. Adams, says the program will begin with next year’s freshman class.
The new policy will cost an additional $300,000 a year, according to a spokesman for the college, which has an endowment of $599-million. Last year Colby awarded close to $3-million in grants for Maine students, for an average financial-aid package of $30,585 per student. But the average in-state student still graduates with about $12,000 in debt. —Elizabeth F. Farrell
