Yale to offer free tuition to families with incomes under $200,000

Yale University said on Tuesday that newly admitted undergraduate students from families with annual incomes below $100,000 will be able to attend the university at no cost, while tuition will be waived for those from families earning under $200,000. According to a report by Yale News, the revised financial aid policy will apply to students enrolling from the upcoming fall intake.

The move places Yale among a group of elite universities expanding financial aid to attract students from low- and middle-income families, as the full cost of attending the university now exceeds $90,000 a year.

Yale’s new offer aligns closely with policies announced earlier by Harvard University and follows similar steps taken by the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Aid expansion amid changing admissions rules

The expanded financial aid comes after the US Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling that limited how universities can consider race in admissions. Universities have since increased their focus on income-based aid, as race and income often overlap, to maintain diverse student bodies.

The push to lower costs also comes at a time when confidence in higher education institutions has weakened across the US. Supporters say broader access could strengthen campuses and public trust.

Richard Kahlenberg, director of the American Identity Project at the Progressive Policy Institute, said the policy would benefit both students and the university by bringing together people from different backgrounds and perspectives.

“Economic diversity can bring racial diversity in a way that's perfectly legal,” he said. “So after the Supreme Court struck down the use of race, institutions like Yale had to find different ways to get racial diversity.”

Yale said students from about 80% of US households will now qualify for free tuition, while nearly half of all households will be eligible for a fully funded Yale education. For students from the lowest-income families, the support package includes free housing, meal plans, travel allowances, health insurance and grants for books and supplies.

Earlier, Yale waived all costs only for students from families earning less than $75,000 a year. Jeremiah Quinlan, Yale’s dean of undergraduate admission and financial aid, said the updated policy reflects the university’s focus on affordability.

“With this announcement, we reiterate and reinforce Yale's commitment to ensuring that cost will never be a barrier between promising students and a Yale College education,” he said.