Only 10 months after Cornell announced a reduction in student loan burdens, another financial aid initiative emerges that will strengthen its financial aid program for undergraduate students by further reducing student loans and eliminating parental contribution for students with a total family income below $60,000.

The three components of the new financial aid initiative are:

• Eliminate the parental contribution for students from families with incomes below $60,000 and assets below $100,000;
• Cap need-based student loans at $7,500 annually for students who have financial need and whose families have annual incomes above $120,000; and
• Reduce the parental contribution for selected students who have financial need and whose families have annual incomes above $60,000.

In the 2009-10 academic year, Cornell will eliminate need-based loans for students with total family incomes up to $75,000, and cap annual loans at $3,000 for students from families with total incomes between $75,000 and $120,000. Loans will be capped annually at $7,500 for those students whose families have annual incomes over $120,000.