Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Michael Fein | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Harvard University is the latest institution to announce that tuition will be free for undergraduates with family incomes of $200,000 or less beginning in the 2025-26 academic year.
It joins 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. That same month, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced it would also become tuition-free for undergraduates with family incomes below $200,000.
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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 altogether 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,” said Hafeez Lakhani, founder and president of Lakhani Coaching in New York.
Still, it is a “powerful” statement, he said — “it signals Harvard is not only matching Princeton but taking another step forward in the affordability arms race.”
Undergraduate tuition at Harvard College was more than $56,000 this year, but the total cost of attendance, including room and board, was nearly $83,000, according to the school. Harvard College is the undergraduate institution at the university.
In addition to its tuition-free offer, since 2023, the university has made schooling completely free for students from families with annual incomes under $85,000, covering tuition, food, housing, health insurance and travel costs. Now, that threshold will increase for families with incomes of $100,000 or less.
Currently, more than 50 colleges and universities are tuition-free for students with household incomes below certain thresholds, according to data from The Princeton Review.
Another nine, including College of the Ozarks and the U.S. Air Force Academy, charge no tuition at all, regardless of family income.
“Bravo to Harvard and other colleges offering free tuition to qualified applicants, as well as to all schools working to increase their financial aid awards,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor in chief. “Colleges making tuition free to eligible applicants are addressing that fear of college debt head-on.”
‘Tuition-free’ doesn’t necessarily mean debt-free
The rising cost of college and ballooning student loan balances have been growing problems nationwide.
Taking on too much debt is now the top worry among college-bound students, according to a recent survey by The Princeton Review.
Another report in 2022 found that most Americans, overall, see the benefits of higher education but are concerned about high tuition and student debt — 83% said college costs are prohibitive to low-income students.
“Given the current climate — including Columbia losing $400 million in federal funding and Harvard being on the ‘watch list’ for similar cuts — it’s an incredibly generous move by Harvard to increase the student population who is eligible for 100% aid,” Lakhani said. “No doubt they are willing to dip into their endowment for this commitment to socioeconomic diversity.”
However, even though more colleges are eliminating education debt from the outset, students may still be on the hook for other expenses, such as room and board, as well as books and fees. There may also be a work-study requirement, depending on the school.