March 17, 2025

Harvard College will make attending the school free for students whose families make less than $100,000 a year.

And they mean free free, not just tuition free.

“Starting in the 2025-26 academic year, Harvard College will be free for students from families with incomes of $100,000 or less — with financial aid covering tuition, fees, food, housing, and more,” the school announced Monday.

The college will also be tuition free for kids whose families make less than $200,000 annually. For families that make more, the school said it would “provide financial aid that matches each family’s specific financial situation.”

Harvard said these changes mean 86% of U.S. families could now receive some form of financial aid from the school.

Harvard College is the undergraduate school at Harvard University.

Harvard’s free ride matches one made in November a little ways down the Charles River at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In their announcements, both Harvard and MIT emphasized that the aid would help more families afford to send their kids to the schools. But the turnstiles into both institutions are still very tight: Harvard accepts just 3% of its applicants, and MIT enrolls 5%, according to 2023 data analyzed by U.S. News & World Report.

Massachusetts students can also take advantage of free offers in the state’s public higher education system. The University of Massachusetts covers tuition and fees for students whose families make less than $75,000 a year. And community college is free for state residents.

State education officials went barnstorming across Massachusetts high schools earlier this year to encourage students and families to apply for financial aid. More than 90% of families that apply for aid end up sending a kid to college, according to Massachusetts Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler.