Brown University gets $100 million gift for financial aid

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown University has received a $100 million gift from a liquor importer for its financial aid program, allowing the Ivy League school to offer its neediest students outright grants instead of loans.

The gift is the largest single donation in Brown’s 240-year history.

“It’s hard to convey how important it is for families, low-income families, to be spared the burden of taking out loans,” said Ruth Simmons, Brown’s president. “It’s quite crippling.”

The donation comes from Sidney Frank, who attended Brown for one year as a member of the Class of 1942. Frank said he was too poor to complete his education, and wanted to help other students get their degrees.

Frank is credited with the marketing success of such products as Jagermeister Liqueur and Grey Goose vodka. Jagermeister used scantily clad models – called Jagerettes – to promote the German liqueur in bars and restaurants.

He recently gave $20 million for a new campus building that will carry his name.

Currently, the neediest Brown students must take out between $9,000 and $15,000 in loans. Starting next fall, 130 entering students will be designated Sidney E. Frank Scholars and will not face the loan requirement.

Until recently, Brown considered a student’s ability to pay in its admissions process. A few years ago, it changed to “need-blind” admissions and moved to expand financial aid.