Salem, Ore. — Willamette University has created a financing option to help families manage tuition expenses in today's shifting economic environment: The Scholar Achievement Loan Forgiveness Program.

Beginning in the fall of 2009, Willamette will make available annual interest-free loans to undergraduate students in the classes graduating in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 whose financial circumstances have been adversely impacted by the economic crisis. These loans will be forgiven if a student maintains a minimum 3.00 grade point average during the year in which he or she receives the loan and if he or she graduates in four years or less from Willamette.

Students graduating in 2013 will be eligible for up to $10,000 in no interest loans; 2012 up to $7,500; 2011 up to $5,000; and 2010 up to $2,500.

"We find ourselves in extraordinary times that require extraordinary leadership," said Willamette University President Lee Pelton. "I am very pleased that Willamette will be able to exert once again its leadership role in the region and the nation by providing undergraduate students and their families with a level of financial assistance that will permit them to continue their Willamette education without interruption."

He added, "Willamette's per student financial aid is among the most generous in the nation. We have designed The Scholar Achievement Loan Forgiveness Program to match students' commitment to academic excellence and hard work with the University's commitment to provide an exceptional undergraduate experience to as many young women and men as possible during tough economic times."

Willamette is a top-tier liberal arts university, nationally recognized for its sustainability programs which are rated the best in the nation by the National Wildlife Federation, its innovative academic undergraduate research centers, small student to faculty ratio and an outstanding teacher scholar faculty, who have earned the prestigious Teacher of the Year Award an unparalleled nine times in the last eighteen years.

Last fall, more than 4,200 students applied for less than 500 spots in the fall 2008 entering class. The 480 first-year students who enrolled represent 44 states and 25 countries.

For more information about the Scholar Achievement Loan, please contact Madeleine Rhyneer, vice president for Admission and Financial Aid at mrhyneer@willamette.edu or call 877-LIBARTS.