Dive Brief:
- Beginning with incoming freshmen in the 2014-2015 school year, Houghton College will offer a Loan Repayment Assistance Program to all students earning less than $38,000.
- Students making $38,000 or less will be eligible for payment assistance or complete repayment after graduation, and the college will reimburse 100% of qualifying loan payments for those earning $20,000 or less.
- The LRAP covers 100% of private, federal and parent PLUS loans and requires graduates to be U.S. citizens or eligible for Title IV financial aid and employed in a job within the U.S. that averages at least 30 hours a week.
Dive Insight:
Houghton says it is the first college in the eastern U.S. to offer such a program, which will, understandably, require students to begin paying the loans on their own if their income rises above the specified thresholds. With student loan debt skyrocketing, college graduates can certainly use all the help they can get, and it's certain to keep Houghton among the best value Liberal Arts colleges on Kiplinger's Personal Finance List.