Massachusetts’ Lending Failure: A Closer Look at the No Interest Loan (NIL) Program

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Executive Summary:

Unknown to many, Massachusetts has its own student loan program, the No Interest Loan (NIL) Program.

This program offers generous terms where students can borrow a maximum of $20,000 in interest-free loans over a lifetime, to be repaid within 10 years of graduation. While eligibility and the amount are determined according to financial need, students can borrow NIL to attend public or private Massachusetts higher education institutions.

We, at the Hildreth Institute, believe in the importance of evaluating the performance of subsidized programs to assess whether they are fulfilling their mandate and serving their target populations in the best possible way. As we sought to learn more about NIL’s history, funding scheme, and most importantly its effectiveness, we were surprised at how little information was available on this program. 

After a serious investigation, we submitted a public record request to gather missing information and here with this issue paper we are sharing what we learned: Click to download this issue paper