Yale to pump up aid by over $80 mn a year

NEW HAVEN: Yale University said on Monday it is joining an expanding group of elite US colleges under pressure from parents, lawmakers and alumni to make top schools more affordable to middle-class and upper middle-class families.

The Ivy League school announced what it called the largest increase in financial aid spending in its history, boosting contributions from its endowment by more than $24 million to more than $80 million annually. The move will reduce the average cost by more than half for families with financial need, Yale officials said.

About 43% of Yale’s 5,300 undergraduates qualify for financial aid, said spokesman Tom Conroy. Tuition, room and board at Yale total about $45,000 a year.

“Yale should be a college of choice for the very best and brightest students from across America and around the world, regardless of financial circumstances,” Yale president Richard Levin said in a statement. In making the announcement Yale joins a group of elite schools including rival Harvard in boosting financial aid.

Harvard announced last month that it will provide $20 million more in financial aid. Harvard’s tuition, room and board are $45,600 a year.

Yale said it is increasing the number of families who qualify for aid, eliminating the need for students to take loans, enhancing its grants to families with more than one child attending college, exempting the first $200,000 of family assets from the assessment of need and increasing expense allowances for foreign students.

Families with incomes less than $120,000 will see their contributions cut by more than 50%, while most families with incomes between $120,000 and $200,000 will see cost reductions of 33% or more, Yale officials said.