(The Center Square) – Harvard University has announced it will offer free tuition for students coming from families earning less than $200,000 a year, with some students able to qualify for free room and board in addition.
The expansion of financial aid at the private Cambridge, Mass., school is set to begin during the 2025-26 academic year. The university hopes the move will make the school more affordable for low- to middle-income families.
For students from families that earn annual incomes of $100,000 or less, they will not only be eligible for free tuition, but may also receive free housing, food, health insurance and travel costs. In addition, the qualifying students will receive a $2,000 “start-up grant” during their first year and a $2,000 “launch grant” during their junior year to assist with “the transition beyond Harvard.”
Harvard President Alan M. Garber hopes the financial assistance expansion will open the doors for more students.
“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,” said Garber. “By bringing people of outstanding promise together to learn with and from one another, we truly realize the tremendous potential of the university.”
For students with annual family incomes of $200,000 or less, they will be able to receive free tuition and “additional financial aid” to cover billed expenses, “depending on financial circumstances.”
Some students with family incomes of more than $200,000 may also receive aid, depending on their circumstances.
The Harvard Gazette says the financial expansion “enables approximately 86% of U.S. families to qualify” for the school’s financial aid, “extending the university’s commitment to providing all undergrads the resources they need to enroll and graduate.”
Harvard has about a 3% undergraduate acceptance rate. For the class of 2028, the school received 54,008 applications and admitted 1,970.
The aid expansion is not the first for the Ivy League school. In 2004, the school launched the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative, which covered tuition, food and housing costs for students from families with annual incomes of $40,000 or less. Over the years, the income ceiling was raised to $60,000 in 2006 and most recently to $85,000 in 2023.
According to the school, it has awarded over $3.6 billion in undergraduate financial aid since the start of the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative. The university’s annual financial aid award budget for the 2025-26 academic year is set for $275 million. Currently, 55% of undergraduates receive financial aid.
For undergrad students that don’t qualify for financial aid, they can expect to pay about $82,866, which includes tuition, health service, housing, student services and food, according to Harvard’s registrar’s office.
Harvard’s annual operating expense during the 2024 fiscal year is about $6.4 billion. The school has an endowment of about $53.2 billion.
