Going to an Ivy League college just became much more affordable for many students. On Monday, March 17, Harvard announced plans to expand its free tuition offering, with eligibility now extending to students whose families earn $200,000 and below annually.Â
This effort is a part of the university’s Financial Aid Initiative, which was launched back in 2004 and offered full financial aid to students whose families earned $40,000 or less annually. Since then, the annual family income needed for a student to receive this aid has increased four other times. “Harvard has long sought to open their doors to the most talented students, no matter their financial circumstances,” Harvard’s Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Hopi Hoekstra, told the Harvard Gazette on March 17. “This investment in financial aid aims to make a Harvard College education possible for every admitted student, so they can pursue their academic passions and positively impact our future.”
Harvard President Alan M. Garber added, “By bringing people of outstanding promise together to learn with and from one another, we truly realize the tremendous potential of the University.”
Harvard has announced that undergraduates with family income below $200,000 can attend Harvard tuition-free starting this fall.
For families with an income below $100,000, parents can expect to pay nothing, including tuition, food, housing, health insurance, and travel costs.
— Only In Boston (@OnlyInBOS) March 17, 2025
This decision makes Harvard the latest elite university in the country to expand its financial aid following the 2022 college affirmative action ban by the Supreme Court. (Other schools that have done something similar include the University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dartmouth, and the University of North Carolina.) The correlation between the increase in university-sponsored financial aid and the end of affirmative action in college admissions — as well as the recent dismantling of DEI across higher education — has not gone unnoticed. “Now that universities can no longer employ racial preferences if they want racial diversity, the best path forward is to boost the chances of admissions of non-wealthy and working-class students, a disproportionate share of whom are Black and Hispanic,” Richard Kahlenberg, director of the American Identity Project at the Progressive Policy Institute, told the New York Times on March 17.
How To Qualify For Harvard’s Free Tuition Program
Harvard’s expanded tuition assistance will begin in the 2025-2026 academic year and is available for all undergraduate students, both incoming and current. Students with family incomes of $200,000 or less will receive free tuition and additional financial aid to cover other expenses, depending on their financial circumstances. Further, for students whose families make $100,000 or less annually, the program covers even more — including tuition, food, housing, health insurance, and travel costs. Plus, each student who qualifies for this program will receive a $2,000 start-up grant in their first year to help with move-in costs and other college transition expenses. Those students will also receive a $2,000 launch grant during their junior year to help support their transition upon graduating from Harvard.
Current and prospective students can visit the Harvard financial aid website or contact Harvard’s financial aid office to learn more.