The number of colleges getting rid of student debt is growing
More colleges are eliminating student loans from their financial aid packages in favor of scholarships and grants.
Eric Raptosh Photography/Getty Images Carleton College announced it is eliminating student loans from its financial aid packages.
It joins a growing list of schools replacing student loans with grants and scholarships.
The move is an effort to curb the spiraling student-debt burdens affecting millions of Americans.
More colleges are reducing the burden of student loans after graduation.
Carleton College, a private liberal-arts college in Minnesota, recently joined the list of schools eliminating student loans from their financial aid packages, instead offering students grants and scholarships that do not need to be repaid.
In its announcement , Carleton said that one-third of every incoming class over the past decade has come from middle-income households, and those students will benefit most from eliminating student loans.
The change will apply to both new and current students, the school said.
"Eliminating loans from our financial aid packages will expand opportunities for students," Alison Byerly, Carleton's president, said in a statement, adding that they'll "be freed from the burden of student loan debt that might otherwise have impacted their professional decisions and ambitions." Students may still choose to borrow loans outside the college's financial aid package, and they're responsible for their expected family contribution based on their income.
Carleton said the change is funded by $80 million in donations, and it's seeking to raise an additional $48 million to sustain the program.
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Religious schools are following suit.
On Tuesday, Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky announced it would phase out federal student loans and shift toward scholarships .
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