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GREENSBORO — UNCG is among the most affordable colleges in the country, Chancellor Linda Brady said, but with 65 percent of its students graduating with debt, she wants to make it more affordable.

The university Tuesday announced a new program, the UNCG Guarantee, that will target the neediest of students and leave them debt-free at graduation. Applicants are now being sought, and an inaugural class of 30 to 40 students will enroll in the fall.

UNCG is using part of an anonymous $6 million donation it received last year to set up the scholarship program.

“As a public university, UNCG has a special obligation to provide access, especially for first-generation college students and others with limited means,” Brady said.

The UNCG Guarantee is modeled after the Carolina Covenant at UNC-Chapel Hill, which was launched in 2003 and, as of fall 2008, had enrolled more than 1,800 students, according to information on the university’s Web site. N.C. State has a similar program.

An eight-member committee spent six months designing UNCG’s program. UNCG Guarantee scholarships will go to North Carolina students who show academic promise but whose family income meets or falls below federal poverty guidelines, $22,050 for a family of four. The number of UNCG freshmen who meet that threshold has increased in recent years.

Students will receive a financial aid package that covers tuition and fees, campus housing, books and other supplies — expenses that now amount to $14,500.

A new endowment, the Lula Martin McIver Endowment, will support the UNCG Guarantee using $4 million of the anonymous gift, federal and state grants and private gifts.

The program’s No. 1 goal is to erase, or significantly reduce, debt for its graduates. The 2008 Project on Student Debt, a national study, showed that 65 percent of UNCG students graduating that year did so with debt, and the average debt was $16,326 per student.

Students in UNCG Guarantee will be required to meet regularly with a program administrator, attend academic success workshops and live on campus for two years.

“The UNCG Guarantee is more than an outstanding financial aid package for those who qualify,” Brady said. “It provides students with a customized plan for their academic success as well as mentoring relationships with faculty, staff and alumni at UNCG.

“It is a support program that provides a variety of opportunities and services to enhance students’ academic achievement, their leadership skills and personal success.”

These activities, along with optional participation in others, such as lecture series and concerts, will help students develop a sense of belonging, said Steve Roberson, the dean of undergraduate studies.

UNCG hopes to grow the program to include as many as 140 students over the next four years.

The university’s development office plans to raise money for additional scholarships.

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 373-7080 or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com.