Oct 01, 2014 10:29 AM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

The University of Chicago is expanding its efforts to help low-income students, school officials announced Wednesday.

The school is launching a comprehensive initiative to support students in all phases of their education and beyond graduation, including expanded opportunities for career development and elimination of all student loan requirements in undergraduate, need-based financial aid packages.

"Students in the College benefit from the rare combination of a vibrant intellectual climate, a singularly empowering liberal arts education, and the practical guidance and experience to succeed in any career they choose," University President Robert Zimmer said in a statement. "We want to ensure that students of high ability can aspire to join this community without financial worry, and with comprehensive support for their success both in the College and beyond graduation."

A central element of the new commitment is No Barriers, an innovative program that will broaden access to the College's transformative education and greatly simplify the admission application and financial aid process.

Under the No Barriers program, student loans will be replaced with grants in all need-based financial aid packages, there will be no college application fees for families seeking financial aid, the aid application process will be simplified, and the university will hold more than 100 free sessions, nationwide, to explain the admissions and financial aid process.

"Success at the College should not depend on where a student comes from or on family income, but on the quality of her or his ideas, and on a disciplined and imaginative dedication to learning," John Boyer, dean of the University of Chicago, said in a statement. "No Barriers will enable students from all backgrounds to gain access to the Core and to the other educational traditions of the University of Chicago that have yielded so many creative and bold thinkers over the generations."

The university will also enhance its Odyssey Scholarship, bolstering aid and programming for low-income students through increased financial support, career guidance, personal mentorship and community support, and continue its commitment to the city of Chicago through UChicago Promise.

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