Three-Quarters of Undergraduates at American Colleges Receive Financial Aid, Report Says

By LAUREN SMITH

"Three-quarters of undergraduates at American colleges and universities received some type of financial aid for the 2004-5 academic year, and 45 percent of undergraduates took out educational loans, according to a report released on Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Education.

The report, a "first look" at statistics collected in the spring of 2006 from postsecondary institutions that receive federal aid, breaks down information on how full-time, first-time undergraduates paid for their education at public, private, and for-profit institutions.

Private four-year institutions had the highest proportion of students -- 85.1 percent -- receiving some type of financial aid, including grants and loans, and 59.8 percent of students at such institutions took out loans.

At four-year for-profit institutions, 79.8 percent of students received financial aid, including 73.6 percent who took out loans.

And at four-year public institutions, 75.5 percent of students received financial aid, and 44.3 percent took out loans. The proportion of students at community colleges who took out loans was sharply lower. According to the report, 61.2 percent of students at two-year public institutions received financial aid, but only 17.5 percent of the students at such institutions took out loans.

At all types of institutions, the proportion of students receiving financial aid in 2004-5 was slightly higher than in the previous year, the figures show."

Read more at the Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/daily/2007/05/2007051006n.htm