Families earning less than $200,000 a year just got a much bigger reason to take a look at Yale. The university on Tuesday rolled out a major overhaul of its financial aid program: Newly admitted undergraduates whose families make under $100,000 will pay nothing to attend—tuition, room, and board included—starting with the class entering this fall, reports the New York Times. Those from families earning under $200,000 won't pay tuition, though they may still be on the hook for housing and other costs. Yale now lists its full sticker price at more than $90,000 a year.
"This strategic investment is central to our mission to educate exceptional students from all backgrounds," says Provost Scott Strobel, per the AP. The move, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, drops Yale squarely into the escalating competition among top-tier schools to sweeten financial aid for low- and middle-income students. It largely mirrors packages already announced by Harvard, Penn, MIT, Princeton, and others, and comes amid slumping public confidence in higher education and a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that sharply restricted race-conscious admissions. With race off the table, elite colleges are leaning harder on income-based aid, betting that "economic diversity can bring racial diversity in a way that's perfectly legal," as policy analyst Richard Kahlenberg puts it.
Yale says the new thresholds mean that about 80% of US households would qualify for free tuition, and nearly half for a completely free education. The most financially stressed students can also receive funded housing and meal plans, travel allowances, health insurance, and grants for books and supplies. Previously, Yale's cutoff for an all-costs-covered education was $75,000 in family income. "Cost will never be a barrier between promising students and a Yale College education," says Jeremiah Quinlan, the university's dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
