Selective colleges look nothing like they did 20 years ago. In the late 1990s, they began adopting no-loan policies to promote socioeconomic diversity. Princeton kicked things off in 1998. Amherst College followed in 1999 and has been a leader in creating diverse classes ever since. Spurred by a combination of blistering reports that documented the loss in human capital caused by financial barriers to college attendance and by politicians like Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, who admonished colleges for not spending more of their endowments on access, 48 schools adopted similar policies in 2007 and 2008. Many people celebrated the opening of college doors to a broader array of students. I benefited myself from these new policies.

September 12, 2015 ・ From The New York Times