Harvard University officials announced recently that tuition will be free for families who earn less than an annual income of $200,000.

Harvard President Alan M. Garber said: “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. By bringing people of outstanding promise together to learn with and from one another, we truly realize the tremendous potential of the University.”

This new opportunity becomes available starting in the 2025-26 academic year. There will be three categories of financial aid: complete coverage of tuition and all other college-related costs, free tuition with the possibility of additional grants and the common  tailored financial aid.

For families with $100,000 annual income or less, Harvard’s financial aid office will cover the following: tuition, fees, housing, food and more. The best parts of this are the $2,000 start-up grant (first year), health insurance, winter gear, $2,000 launch grant (junior year) and travel costs between campus and home.

For families with $200,000 annual income and below, the financial aid will cover the full cost of tuition and, in addition, students can qualify for financial aid to cover other costs based on their individual financial circumstances.

For families above the annual income threshold, financial aid distribution will remain unchanged, with aid being given depending on the individual’s financial circumstances.

This news continues the trend of many universities going tuition-free, such as MIT, Princeton and Duke University. Although they have gone tuition-free, the majority of these universities have only offered these opportunities to state residents. But, for Harvard, it will be applied to everyone, in or out-of-state and international students alike.

With this news coming to the light, many students have now set their eyes on Harvard, so get ready for the university’s admissions process to become even more competitive than what it already was!