Bowdoin and Colby, two of Maine’s three most prestigious – and expensive – private liberal arts colleges, will eliminate loans from their financial aid packages next year, replacing the borrowed money with grants. Students should save, on average, $16,000 to $20,000 by the time they graduate.

But Bates College in Lewiston, the smallest of the trio, said it can’t afford to follow in its competitors’ footsteps.

“Our financial reality is we have to make really careful choices and that’s what we will be doing,” Bates President Elaine Tuttle Hansen said.

According to the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, over 20 schools have eliminated loans for some or all students who get financial aid. Bowdoin College in Brunswick and Colby College in Waterville made their no-loans announcement late last week, within a day of each other. Colby had originally planned to guarantee a loan-free financial aid package for Maine students only, but decided to extend that initiative to everyone.

Both Bowdoin and Colby officials said they wanted to make their schools more affordable and more accessible to low- and middle-income students. Tuition, room and board is $46,100 a year at Colby and $46,260 a year at Bowdoin – a sticker price that can shock families and deter some students from applying.

“We have a strong commitment to making sure we are still accessible to all students who have the ability to get in, regardless of the family income,” said Steve Joy, director of student aid at Bowdoin. “And we’re also worried about the debt levels that graduates across the nation and at Bowdoin college carry as they leave us.”

Both colleges calculate family contribution and then fill in the outstanding tuition, room and board balance with financial aid. Historically, those financial aid packages have included work study, grants/scholarships and about $3,700 to $5,000 a year in student loans. Starting in the fall, loans will be replaced with grants for all enrolled and future students.

The change will not affect parents who take out loans to meet their required family contribution. And students who want to take out loans – to cover books, living expenses or their family’s contribution, for example – still may.

Officials from both schools said parents, students and applicants have been overwhelmingly positive about the change. After Colby announced its loan-free initiative for Maine students last fall, its in-state applications jumped 49 percent.

“I wouldn’t attribute all of it to the grant initiative, but it has been a factor,” said Colby spokesman Stephen Collins.

Colby expects the loan-free initiative will cost it about $1.5 million a year. It has 1,800 students and will pay for the new grants with its nearly $600 million endowment.

Bowdoin expects the initiative will cost it about $3 million a year. It has about 1,830 students and will pay for the new grants with an $828 million endowment.

Bates has about 1,700 students and an endowment worth $275 million. Hansen said her school has worked to keep loans to a minimum – the average Bates student graduated with $10,100 in federal loans in 2007 – but it can’t afford to replace those loans with grants.

“If we were to do this, given our financial realities, the money would have to come from somewhere,” she said. “We could do several things. We could raise tuition, which wouldn’t improve affordability. We could lower the number of students who get financial aid. Or we could make cuts in some other area unrelated that would affect the educational quality of our institution.”

Hansen doesn’t begrudge Bowdoin and Colby their attempt to improve access and affordability among needy students. But since the trio of schools often compete for the same pool of applicants, she does wonder whether the no-loan initiative at Bowdoin and Colby will draw prospective students away from Bates.

“It might be (a concern). We’ll see,” she said.

So far, Hansen said she’s only heard from one student about the no-loan initiative.

At Bates, friends Sylvan Ellefson of Connecticut, Michael Watson of Massachusetts, Connor Cushman of Portland and Matt Dunlap of Farmington aren’t second-guessing their choice of colleges. They’re OK with the fact that Bates isn’t instituting the same no-loan policy as Bowdoin and Colby, despite the fact they figure they’ll graduate between $15,000 and $20,000 in debt, and all plan to take out more loans to attend graduate school.

They’d rather take loans than risk losing Bates’ quality.

“I’m not super worried about the loans I’ll have to pay off,” Ellefson said.

Colleges by the numbers

Colby College, Waterville; Tuition, room and board: $46,100; Cost of no-loan initiative: $1.5 million a year; Endowment: $599 million; Size: 1,800 students

Bowdoin College, Brunswick; Tuition, room and board: $46,260; Cost of no-loan initiative: $3 million a year; Endowment: $828 million endowment; Size: 1,830 students

Bates College, Lewiston; Tuition, room and board: $46,800; Endowment: $275 million endowment; Size: 1,700 students