Harvard announces free tuition for families earning under $200,000

Harvard University will give free tuition to students from families earning $200,000 (£154,000) or less per year. 

This new policy will start in the 2025-26 academic year. It is meant to help more students afford a Harvard education.

Harvard President Alan Garber said the goal is to make sure all admitted students can attend the university, no matter their financial situation. He also said that bringing students from different backgrounds together will help them learn and grow.

Right now, Harvard is very expensive. Tuition for the 2024-25 school year costs $56,550. When you add other expenses like housing, food, and health insurance, the total cost can be more than $80,000 a year. The new policy will reduce these costs for many families.

Families earning less than $100,000 a year will get even more support. Harvard will pay for their tuition, housing, food, travel, and health insurance. These students will also receive extra grants to help with other expenses in their first and third years.

To support students from weaker financial backgrounds, Harvard has an endowment of over $53 billion. In the past, only families earning under $85,000 a year got free tuition. Now, more students will be able to qualify for the university’s aid programme.

Other universities are also offering more financial aid. Schools like the University of Pennsylvania, MIT, and Dartmouth have made similar changes.

Harvard has worked for years to make education more affordable. In 2007, it stopped giving student loans and started offering grants that do not need to be repaid. Despite the aid package, most Harvard students still belong to wealthy families. Data shows that nearly 40% of students are from the richest 5% of families, while fewer than 5% come from the poorest 20%.

This new policy is a big step toward making Harvard more accessible. The announcement will help middle-class families to make top education affordable for their children.