PricingNewsColleges
All news
News2 min read

Carleton drops loans from its financial aid, starting fall 2027

Carleton College announced on September 14, 2026 that from next fall it will meet every student's full need with grants, scholarships and work, with no loans. There is no income cutoff.

By CV, founder of Stratia

Published · Announced

Official source: Carleton College, Sep 14, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

What happened#

On September 14, 2026, Carleton College in Minnesota announced that, "beginning next fall," it will meet every student's full financial need "exclusively through grants, scholarships, and student employment."

"Carleton will automatically replace all federal and institutional loans in its financial aid packages with grants and scholarships." There is "no specific income restriction... a student must only qualify for need-based aid." The policy also covers current first-years, sophomores and juniors.

Carleton says it is the first college in Minnesota to go no-loan, and one of about 20 in the country.

What it means for a student#

If you are a senior applying for fall 2027 and you qualify for need-based aid, a Carleton aid offer will not include loans. There is no income line to check. What your family pays still depends on Carleton's need calculation, so run its net price calculator.

When you compare aid offers in the spring, read each one for its loans. Two offers with the same total can leave you with very different debt. BU also took loans out of its need-based packages this year.

Ask Astra about Carleton

Free, no sign-in

Questions are kept to improve answers. Don't include your name.

Answers come from Carleton's own data, with the source on each one. Carleton's page, with Astra: stratiaadmissions.com/ask/carleton

Sources

Last checked September 30, 2026. We add a dated note here when the story changes.

Read next

White Paper
8 min read

What College Actually Costs Your Family

The sticker price is not the price - and the most expensive school on the list is often the cheapest one

Families cross schools off their list because of a number almost nobody pays. Using federal net-price data for every school in our knowledge base, this playbook shows what families in each income band actually pay, why the priciest sticker can be the cheapest school, and the three questions to ask before you rule anywhere out.

Family Guide
Read paper
White Paper
10 min read

Choosing a College Is Two Decisions, Not One

Which university, and which major inside it - and most families are choosing from a list of names they already knew. Finding the right school-and-major pair is a search problem, and it is the one Stratia solves

Most families build a college list from the names they already know, and never consider the second decision underneath it - which major they apply under at each school, which at selective universities can change the odds completely. This guide covers what answering both honestly requires, why ranking sites hand back the list you walked in with, and why finding the right school-and-major pair is a search problem rather than a browsing one.

Value & Approach
Read paper