We will to sway them with our little voice. I ask that any family who thinks that loans should not be used to get you to EFC to bring this up to the FAOs. Congressional representatives should be contacted, too, to try to correct this situation for the future.
The elite colleges are not dispensing with loans just because they CAN, but they are acting like leaders and know that this absurd burden on the students, and their (mostly middle class) families, is deleterious in the long run for the greater good of our country.
see poster atana' comments on this subject (which is applicable beyond the elite schools, the 2nd and third tier schools, which our family is dealing with).
Should you incur substantial debt for dream school or even pay the "dream" tuition?