• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
A statue of Jesus facing the Golden Dome with its statue of Mary atop the administration building of the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Ind., is seen Aug. 6, 2021. (OSV News photo/Chaz Muth)

University of Notre Dame unveils new no-loan, need-blind policy for undergrads

September 17, 2024
By Gina Christian
OSV News
Filed Under: Colleges, News, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

With student loan debt soaring, the University of Notre Dame has unveiled a new “no-loan policy” for undergraduate students, while also expanding its need-blind admissions policy to include domestic and international students.

Holy Cross Father Robert A. Dowd, who took office as the school’s 18th president July 1, announced the “Pathways to Notre Dame” initiative during his Sept. 13 inauguration address.

The school said in a statement that as part of the “historical financial aid commitment,” student loans will be replaced by gift aid in financial aid packages for full-time first-year and transfer undergraduate students entering the school in fall 2025. Families can still opt to augment the packages with federal student or private loans.

Holy Cross Father Robert Dowd speaks at his inauguration as the 18th president of the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Ind., Sept. 13, 2024. (OSV News photo/Peter Ringenberg, University of Notre Dame)

Additionally, the school will extend its need-blind policy — by which an applicant’s financial circumstances are not included in admissions decisions — to all prospective students, regardless of their country of origin. Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are among the top schools that also have need-blind policies as part of their admissions processes.

“We want an undergraduate student body that reflects the rich diversity of the Catholic community in and beyond the United States, which requires a Notre Dame education be both accessible and affordable,” said Father Dowd, according to a Sept. 13 news release issued by the university.

Father Dowd, a Notre Dame alumnus, said the school was “profoundly grateful for the extraordinary generosity” of the benefactors who had made possible the initiative, which is effective immediately.

He described the move as an “important next step” for the school that would ensure “every student who is admitted will have the opportunity to attend the university, no matter their financial circumstances or where in the world they call home.”

Currently, student loan debt in the U.S. totals over $1.7 trillion, representing 9% of the nation’s consumer debt. As of June, 43.6 million people in the nation held federal student loan debt, with borrowers carrying a balance of $38,000 on average.

Student loan debt particularly impacts women and persons of color, with Black women more likely to shoulder greater debt for their education — while gender and racial wage gaps result in longer payback periods for student loans for women and persons of color, according to research published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Researchers said college debt, while it may be necessary to finance educations, “has consequences for career decisions, marital formation and fertility.”

Read More Colleges

Can’t afford a Catholic college? Think again. Many offer full tuition options

DUAL ENROLLMENT

Double the learning: Dual enrollment provides college credit to high school students

How faith-based higher education can best serve society is focus of symposium

Villanova athletes inspired that pope keeps tabs on how his alma mater’s teams fare

‘Change of era’ prompts Catholic University of America to launch new degrees in AI

Analysts: Trump’s action on Harvard, Columbia could have implications for religious groups

Copyright © 2024 OSV News

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Gina Christian

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Prince of Peace merges with St. Francis de Sales in Harford County

  • Detroit archbishop fires theologians Ralph Martin, Eduardo Echeverría from seminary

  • Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

  • Construction underway on new north addition to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home 

  • Warsaw archbishop ‘devastated, crushed’ by priest’s arrest in brutal murder of homeless man

| Latest Local News |

Radio Interview: The true story of ‘Xavier Rynne’

Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

Third annual gun buyback scheduled for Aug. 9

Driver arrested after crashing into entrance of Esperanza Center

Construction underway on new north addition to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home 

| Latest World News |

Massacre ‘of faithful in the house of God’ in Congolese Catholic church leaves 43 dead

Pope welcomes young people to Rome for jubilee, thanks media for promoting truth

Cardinal Tomasi: Religious communities can play key roles in nuclear disarmament

Warsaw archbishop ‘devastated, crushed’ by priest’s arrest in brutal murder of homeless man

Jubilee of Youth chance to celebrate hope, fraternity in world at war, panel says

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Radio Interview: The true story of ‘Xavier Rynne’
  • Massacre ‘of faithful in the house of God’ in Congolese Catholic church leaves 43 dead
  • Pope welcomes young people to Rome for jubilee, thanks media for promoting truth
  • Cardinal Tomasi: Religious communities can play key roles in nuclear disarmament
  • Warsaw archbishop ‘devastated, crushed’ by priest’s arrest in brutal murder of homeless man
  • Jubilee of Youth chance to celebrate hope, fraternity in world at war, panel says
  • New York archdiocese sees hundreds of responses to ‘Called By Name’ program
  • Can’t afford a Catholic college? Think again. Many offer full tuition options
  • Detroit archbishop fires theologians Ralph Martin, Eduardo Echeverría from seminary

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en