Harvard makes tuition free for families making less than $200K

Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News on Mar 17, 2025

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Harvard will offer free tuition to students whose families make less than $200,000 per year beginning next year, the school announced Monday.

Additionally, the entire school experience — including housing, food and other costs — will be free for students whose families make less than $100,000, university leaders said.

“We know the most talented students come from different socioeconomic backgrounds and experiences, from every state and around the globe,” said William R. Fitzsimmons, Harvard College’s dean of admissions and financial aid.

Harvard already offered everything free to students with family incomes below $85,000. The program began in 2004, with the initial cutoff set at $40,000.

The university estimated 86% of American families will now qualify for free tuition. For the current academic year, Harvard tuition was $56,550.

“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,” said Hopi Hoekstra, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences.

A 2017 analysis determined that 67% of Harvard students came from the richest 20% of families in the U.S. At the time, the median family income for a Harvard student was $168,800.

According to Harvard, more than half of its students received financial aid in the 2023-24 school year. In 2023, the school said more than 20% of students had families making less than $85,000 per year.

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