News and Notes: Brown & Oscars

Brown University approved a new undergraduate financial aid policy on Saturday that will eliminate tuition for students whose families earn less than $60,000 annually. The new policy will also replace loans with grants for students whose family income is less than $100,000 and reduce loan expectations for all families receiving financial aid.

Following the policy’s institution in fall 2008, Brown’s budget for undergraduate financial aid will increase from $57 million to $68.5 million.

Brown also announced plans to increase tuition for the 2008-09 academic year by 3.9 percent, bringing the total annual cost for a Brown education, including room and board, to $47,740 for one year.

“Since 2001, Brown has made financial aid for our students one of our highest priorities,” Brown President Ruth Simmons said in a statement. “Today, we take another major step forward to ensure that our nation’s best students from lower- and middle-income families can attend Brown and graduate without the enormous burden of college debt.”

The new policy follows recent similar actions taken by Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Penn and Cornell, as well as Stanford, which announced its expanded financial aid policy last week.

Stanford’s policy, effective fall 2008, will fund tuition and room and board for students whose families earn less than $60,000, subsidize tuition for those whose family income is less than $100,000 and eliminate loans from financial aid packages.

Harvard and Yale will also eliminate tuition for families whose income is below $60,000, and Dartmouth will do the same for families whose income is below $75,000. Harvard, Yale and Stanford also plan to lower contributions to tuition for by families in higher income brackets.

Princeton alum Ethan Coen ’79 wins Oscars

Princeton alumnus Ethan Coen ’79 won three Oscars during Sunday’s Academy Awards Ceremony for the movie “No Country for Old Men.” The film, which he co-wrote, co-produced and co-directed with his brother, Joel Coen, was nominated for eight Oscars and ultimately won in the categories of Best Motion Picture of the Year, Achievement in Directing, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor.

Coen graduated with an A.B. in philosophy. Claudia Gray, his publicist, said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian that the brothers are very pleased with the outcome of the awards season and are currently in post-production for their next film.

Coen previously shared the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay with his brother in 1996 for “Fargo” and a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2001 for “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”