Beginning in the 2025-2026 academic year, attending Harvard will be free for students from families with household incomes under $100,000, and no tuition will be charged to families with income under $200,000, the university announced on Monday.

Previously, tuition was free for households making less than $85,000 a year.

The expansion of the school’s financial aid grants is designed to make Harvard more affordable for middle-income families, Harvard said in its announcement. The new policy follows similar moves from other elite institutions with large endowments, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which announced a similar financial aid expansion last November.

In a press release, Harvard said the new policy was part of its “commitment to provide every admitted undergraduate student the resources they need to enroll and graduate.” In the next academic year, Harvard says it will spend $275 million on financial aid, a significant outlay at a time of austerity for universities, as the Trump administration cuts research funding and Republicans discuss hiking taxes on university endowments. Last week, Harvard, along with many other universities, announced a hiring freeze and other cost-saving measures.

The financial aid expansion addresses what many higher education watchers have identified as an affordability gap for middle-income families.

While private college tuition is broadly affordable for the rich, who have the wherewithal to pay the bills, and many poor students qualify for significant financial aid, it is often out of reach for the middle class.

Typically, only the wealthiest families pay the full sticker price for tuition, but for those earning $150,000 to $200,000, which is at the upper end of the middle income range in the Boston area, the expected yearly contribution is often north of $30,000 a year, and can be much higher depending on the school.

The new Harvard policy will make tuition free for all admitted students from household with income up to $200,000. They will also be eligible to apply for additional financial aid to cover food and housing.

For students from household making up to $100,000, the university will cover “all billed expenses,” including tuition. It will also provide a $2,000 “start-up” grant freshman year, a $2,000 grant junior year, health insurance and travel expenses.

For families making more than $200,000 per year, financial aid will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Harvard’s endowment is worth more than $50 billion.

Mike Damiano can be reached at [email protected].