This report from identifies 41 universities that appear to be steering low-income families to Parent PLUS loan debt they cannot afford, at the same time that they are providing large tuition discounts to wealthier students. The list includes 23 selective private universities and 18 public flagship and research institutions, nearly half of which are in the South.
Collectively, the 41 universities in the report, many of whom work closely with private, for-profit enrollment management consultants, spent $2.4 billion of their own financial aid dollars on students who lacked financial need in 2023, according to the latest data available. Nearly $2 out of every $5 these schools spent on institutional aid that year went to non-needy students—those whom the federal government deems able to afford college without financial aid. Meanwhile, more than 32,000 families of Pell Grant recipients who had either graduated or left these schools in the recent past were stuck with PLUS loans they took out to pay for their children to attend these institutions. These families carried a median Parent PLUS loan debt load of nearly $30,000 each. For many of these families, the amount they owed came close to or exceeded their yearly earnings.