Brown University is following the lead of academic powerhouses Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth and Stanford in ending tuition for middle income and poor students. They also intend to place student loans with grants so those same students aren’t saddled with so much debt. The cost of tuition and room and board at Brown for the 2008-09 academic year was $47,740 for a year.
Princeton (considered one of the big Three Ivys along with Harvard and Yale) hasn’t eliminated tuition yet, and it will be interesting to see which other Ivys do and don’t follow suit — and if they’ll feel any pressure to do so.