On October 26th, 2023, Bryn Mawr College announced to students via Instagram and email that some federal loans would be eliminated and replaced with grants.
The new policy raises the no-loan threshold from the previous income of $60,000 a year to $110,000 a year. In addition, students whose families make above $110,000 will now receive an additional $4,000 in aid from the school. This is up from the previous $2000 given to need-eligible students with family incomes above $60,000.
Bryn Mawr College President Kim Cassidy said this of the new policy: “Equity and inclusion are an explicit part of Bryn Mawr’s mission and these additional investments in financial aid help put a Bryn Mawr education more within reach for students with financial need… Prioritizing need-based financial aid in building the College’s budget and the generosity of our donors has allowed the College to take this critical step to live our mission of excellence and access.”
This policy will be in place for all returning students and the incoming class of 2028.
Historically, Bryn Mawr College has given upwards of $11.2 million dollars to incoming classes (see chart below). The BiCo found data for the following years: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026.
According to Bryn Mawr College’s website, 78% of Bryn Mawr students receive financial aid with an average award per student of $62,230.
Without aid, Bryn Mawr College’s tuition can cost upwards of $61,190: however, the school claims to meet 100% of a student’s demonstrated need.
According to The New York Times, 9% of Bryn Mawr College’s student body comes from the top 1%. Compared to other top liberal arts colleges, such as Swarthmore at 11% or Haverford at 15%, Bryn Mawr College is lower, and it may become even lower with the introduction of this new policy.
Correction: The original article stated that Bryn Mawr College tuition is 73,690 USD. The actual tuition price is 61,190 USD, not including housing. We apologize for this. In addition, the original article included a graph that did not have data on the Class of 2020. We have since added the link with all the information concerning the data on our chart.
