Harvard announces free tuition for students from families making $200,000 or less

United States-based Harvard University has said its undergraduate tuition will be free for students from families making $200,000 or less. The free tuition according to the private university will take effect 2025/2026 academic year.

In a blog post on the university’s official website sighted by GhanaEducation.org, the President of Harvard Alan M. Garber said the tuition-free initiative ensures talented students from low-income homes are not disadvantaged in admission.

“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.

This significant financial aid expansion reaffirms Harvard’s decades-long commitment to enabling more undergraduate students, especially those from middle-income families, to receive the financial support they need to attend,” the blog post said.

It added that “Putting Harvard within financial reach for more individuals widens the array of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives that all of our students encounter, fostering their intellectual and personal growth

By bringing people of outstanding promise together to learn with and from one another, we truly realize the tremendous potential of the University.”

The management also said attending Harvard will be completely free for students from families making $100,000 or less, with the university committing to cover housing, health insurance and travel costs between campus and home.

Harvard said the expanded program would enable approximately 86 per cent of families in the United States to qualify for Harvard College’s financial aid, extending Harvard’s commitment to provide every admitted undergraduate student the resources they need to enroll and graduate.

“Harvard has long sought to open our doors to the most talented students, no matter their financial circumstances,” said Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hoekstra.

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,” the university said in the blog post.

This year, undergraduate tuition at Harvard College is more than $56,000, but per the institution’s financial aid website, it rises to $82,866 if you include food, housing and other expenses.

Amid the free tuition, Harvard has joined a growing list of select private colleges — many in the “Ivy Plus” category — that have also recently increased their financial aid awards to attract top students wary of high college costs.

In November, the University of Pennsylvania said it would guarantee a financial aid package that covered tuition with grants and work-study for students from families that make up to $200,000.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology similarly in November last academic year announced it would also become tuition-free for undergraduates with family incomes below $200,000.

Additionally, last year other schools, such as Vanderbilt University and Dartmouth, expanded aid to include full-tuition scholarships to students of families below a certain income threshold.

Even before then, Harvard, along with Duke University, Princeton University, Yale University and Northwestern University introduced “no-loan” policies, which meant they eliminated student loans from their financial aid packages.