Harvard University is offering free tuition to more students, the Ivy League school announced on Monday, joining a growing number of higher education institutions in the US to take such a step.

The announcement from Harvard says that undergraduate tuition at the institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will be free for students of families who make annual incomes of $200,000 or less. The university will also make schooling completely free for students from families with annual incomes of $100,000 or less, with financial aid that covers tuition, food, housing, health insurance and travel costs.

Officials say the moves aim to make the 388-year-old school affordable to “more students than ever”.

The new changes will take effect in the 2025-26 academic year. The expansion will enable approximately 86% of US families to qualify for Harvard College’s financial aid, according to the school.

“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,” the Harvard University president, Alan M Garber, said in a statement.

He added: “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 Harvard’s website, the average annual tuition for an undergraduate student is $56,550. But with additional expenses such as housing, food, health services and other student services, the annual cost of attending Harvard can easily run over $80,000.

Harvard enrolls about 24,600 undergraduate students a year. In 2024, the school accepted 3.59% of the 54,000 applicants for the class graduating in 2028. Previously, only families with incomes under $85,000 were offered free tuition.

While Harvard’s announcement on Monday did not mention Donald Trump’s presidential administration, the changes were announced as the White House has mounted repeated attacks on higher education, including in the form of funding cuts.

The Republican party has stoked distrust toward intellectualism. And according to recent polls, a growing number of Americans lack confidence in higher education.

Several higher education institutions, meanwhile, have been offering expansions to their financial aid packages, with free tuition for lower income families becoming increasingly popular in recent years. Last November, the University of Pennsylvania announced that it would offer free tuition for students from families making under $200,000.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced a similar $200,000 cutoff. At the same time, the University of Texas announced it would expand its free tuition program for lower-income families to include all families making $100,000 or less a year.

Other universities, such as Dartmouth and the University of Virginia, have also increased their financial aid limits in the past year.