Harvard University. Photo:
Getty
Harvard University is now putting the school’s Ivy League education “within financial reach” of even more students.
On Monday, March 17, Harvard announced that tuition will be free for undergraduate students from families making $200,000 or less annually, according to a news release. The change will kick off in the 2025-26 academic year.
Harvard will also be completely free for students from families with annual incomes of $100,000 or less and will cover “all billed expenses” including tuition, food, housing, health insurance and travel costs, the institution said.
“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,” Harvard President Alan Garber said in a statement.
“By bringing people of outstanding promise together to learn with and from one another, we truly realize the tremendous potential of the University,” he added.
Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Getty
According to the university, the changes will “enable approximately 86 percent of U.S. families to qualify for Harvard College’s financial aid.”
For students whose families have an income of $100,000 and below, outside of their “billed expenses” and tuition being covered, Harvard will also award them a $2,000 “start-up grant” in their first year and a $2,000 “launch grant” in their junior year of college.
Those whose families make $200,000 or less, outside of free tuition, will also have the opportunity to receive financial aid for other expenses, while those whose families make above $200,000 can also receive tuition aid depending on their circumstances too, the school said.
“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,” Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Hopi Hoekstra said in a statement.
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The university began investing in undergraduate financial aid with the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative in 2004, covering tuition and expenses for students from families with annual incomes of $40,000 or less. That number increased to $60,000 in 2006 and later to $85,000 in 2023. Since the initiative launched, Harvard has been awarded $3.6 billion in undergraduate financial aid, with 55% of undergraduates currently receiving financial aid.
Families receiving financial aid paid an average of $15,700 for the 2023-24 academic year. Harvard’s average annual tuition is $56,550, with the total annual average cost of attendance averaging out to $82,866, according to its website.
As NBC News noted, Harvard’s latest financial aid decision comes after the University of Texas System announced in November that tuition for undergraduate students from families earning an annual $100,000 or less would be free.
That same month, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced a similar move for undergraduate students whose families make less than $200,000.
