OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
3:32 PM – Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Harvard University is the most recent Ivy League to declare that, starting with the 2025–2026 academic year, tuition will be free for undergraduate freshmen whose families make $200,000 or less annually.
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“With this new, expanded financial aid program, Harvard College will be free for students from families with annual incomes of $100,000 or less and tuition-free for students from families with annual incomes of $200,000 or less,” the school’s official news X account posted.
It joins a growing number of select private universities — several in the “Ivy Plus” category — that have also lately upped their financial aid payouts to entice students concerned about hefty college expenses.
For students from families earning up to $200,000 or less, the Pennsylvania university said in November that it would ensure a financial assistance package that included work-study and grants to cover tuition.
In the same month, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology similarly declared that freshmen whose families make $200,000 or less annually will no longer be required to pay tuition.
Other universities, like Dartmouth and Vanderbilt University, also increased aid last year to offer full-tuition scholarships to students from families with incomes below a specific threshold. Prior to that, Harvard, Duke, Princeton, Yale, and Northwestern universities all implemented “no-loan” policies — which meant that they completely removed student loans from their financial aid packages.
“Harvard’s announcement is long overdue given Princeton increased its threshold for 100% aid, including tuition, room and board, to families who earn less than $100,000 in 2023,” stated Hafeez Lakhani, the founder and president of Lakhani Coaching, an education administration program in New York.
However, it is still a “powerful” statement, he continued, as “it signals Harvard is not only matching Princeton but taking another step forward in the affordability arms race.”
Harvard College, the university’s undergraduate school, claimed that the overall cost of attendance, including housing and board, was around $83,000 this year — despite the fact that undergraduate tuition was more than $56,000.
In addition to its tuition-free offer, the institution has made education entirely free for students from families earning less than $85,000 per year since 2023. This includes tuition, housing, food, health insurance, and travel expenses. For families earning $100,000 or less, that cutoff will now be raised.
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