Harvard University’s new financial aid program will have many graduates quoting one famous fictional graduate Elle Woods’ “What, like it’s hard?” when talking about paying for their education.
That’s because the university president Alan M. Garber and Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Hopi Hoekstra announced Monday that attending the prestigious school will be free for students from families with annual incomes of $100,000 or less and tuition-free for students from families with annual incomes of $200,000 or less starting next year.
For those with families who make under $100,000 all billed expenses including tuition, food, housing, health insurance, and travel costs will be covered. Students from those families will also receive a $2,000 start-up grant in their first year and a $2,000 launch grant during their junior year “to help support the transition beyond Harvard.”
Students from families with incomes of $200,000 or less will receive free tuition and additional financial aid to cover billed expenses, depending on their financial circumstances. Those from families with higher incomes will also be eligible for certain types of aid based on their financial circumstances.
Student debt in the U.S. has been identified as a crisis, and the administration of former President Joe Biden had approved student loan relief for more than 5 million Americans as of this January.
“Putting Harvard within financial reach for more individuals widens the array of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives that all of our students encounter, fostering their intellectual and personal growth,” Garber said. “By bringing people of outstanding promise together to learn with and from one another, we truly realize the tremendous potential of the university.”
According to the Harvard Gazette, this expansion will enable approximately 86% of U.S. families to qualify for Harvard College’s financial aid. It said the school – the first college founded in the American colonies, nearly 390 years ago – has been investing in a new undergraduate financial aid program for more than 20 years. This mission started with the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative launch in 2004.
Tuition, food, and housing costs for students from families with annual incomes of $40,000 or less was covered with debut of the initiative. That amount increased to $60,000 in 2006 and then to $85,000 in 2023. Since the launch of the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative, more than $3.6 billion in undergraduate financial aid has been awarded.
While those financial aid offerings increased, Harvard also eliminated loans in 2007 and began providing all assistance in the form of grants. Additionally, it eliminated home equity in determining a family’s ability to pay for college.
For the 2025-26 academic year, Harvard’s annual financial aid award budget is $275 million. Currently, 55% of undergraduates receive financial aid and their families paid an average of $15,700 for the 2023-24 year.
“Harvard has long sought to open our doors to the most talented students, no matter their financial circumstances,” said Hoekstra. “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.”
This week, the college also announced affordable housing funding along with the city of Boston, Mass., where the university is located. This funding is expected to provide 637 units of income-restricted housing in the neighborhoods of Allston, Brighton, Chinatown, Dorchester, Fenway, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Mission Hill, and Roxbury.
“As a longtime member of the Allston-Brighton community, Harvard has developed a complex housing strategy that adapts to the dynamic needs of city requirements and city residents,” Harvard Executive Vice President Meredith Weenick said. “And we are excited to be involved in enabling two of the projects that will be announced today. These two projects represent nearly 100 units of affordable housing in Allston and they exemplify what we can activate through creativity, responsiveness, and partnership.”