Colleges That Don’t Allow Student Loans

The college tuition funding nut is a tough one to crack. You could be super rich with a fully stocked college fund for all of your kids (yeah!) or you could be like me, trying to cash flow college for 4 kids on 1 income. If you’re somewhere in the middle, you might be considering student loans- but what if your teen attends a college that doesn’t allow student loans? Can that help you or hurt you?

Colleges that don’t allow student loans fall into 2 types:

Type 1 are the schools that have opted out of ALL Federal funding (Title IV) to maintain their independence and the strings attached to government funding. These colleges are firm in their political position against the Title IV funding. These colleges do not necessarily waive tuition or fund attendance, so you’re still left facing the funding question.

Type 2 are the schools that promise to fund ALL students who meet specific income and financial aid needs. These colleges have a plan in place for funding, so students attending colleges on this list won’t have to figure out funding – it’s covered.

Type 1

Colleges in this category have strong political or religious convictions driving their decision to opt-out of Title IV funding. Attending these colleges can be a challenge because you’ll have to secure private loans or pay some other way. Some colleges in this category share something else in common. Many have opted out of regional accreditation. In occupations that require licensure to practice (teaching, nursing, medicine, dental, counseling, architecture, engineering, accounting, etc.) a degree from a regionally accreditated college is almost always required.

This post and this list aren’t about regional accreditation, but the intertwining of these two issues is inseparable, and I can’t give you this list without also giving you information about accreditation.

There are a lot of deep and important considerations regarding accreditation, so let me give you a basic suggestion that will easily serve everyone: unless you can make a strong case explaining why regional accreditation is not needed for your teen’s occupation, it is wise to choose a college that is regionally accredited.

Check any college’s accreditation here

Who accredits a college is determined by geography, so if you see any of these, it means the college IS regionally accredited:

Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) Western Association of Schools and Colleges

Higher Learning Commission (HLC)

Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)

New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE)

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)

WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC)

Bethlehem College & Seminary (Minnesota)

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Kentucky)

Christendom College (Virginia)

Faith Bible College (Maine)

Grove City College (Pennsylvania)

Gutenberg College (Oregon)

Hillsdale College (Michigan)

Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary (Tennessee)

New College Franklin (Tennessee)

New Saint Andrews College (Idaho)

Patrick Henry College (Virginia)

Pensacola Christian College (Florida)

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Kentucky)

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Texas)

Wyoming Catholic College (Wyoming)

Type 2

Colleges in this category all participate in Title IV funding, allowing your student to remain eligible for grants and scholarships, but colleges in this category have made a commitment to make sure their student body does not have to borrow money to attend. The catch? Well, these colleges are very hard to get into. Acceptance rates vary, but to say that these schools have “competitive admission” is putting it mildly. Still, if your student has what it takes to get in, they’ll make sure money doesn’t keep them out.

No-Loan Colleges: The Current List (list provided by College Vine)

Currently, only a handful of colleges offer no-loan financial aid policies, but the list is growing. The colleges listed here maintain entirely no-loan financial aid policies. If you apply for financial aid and are assessed as having financial need, you won’t be required to take out any loans to meet that need.

Some colleges have more restricted no-loan policies, in which students must be below a particular family income threshold, or be considered “low-income” by some other standard, in order to qualify for no-loan financial aid. Colleges that currently guarantee no-loan financial aid to particular students are listed below; we’ve included the yearly family income threshold below which the no-loan policy applies where it’s available.