Harvard University has announced a landmark decision to eliminate tuition fees for students from families who earn an annual income of $200,000 or less. Students who are accepted into Harvard College, the university’s undergraduate program, will be able to attend tuition free. The prestigious institution, the oldest in the United States, hopes this move will expand access to top-level education and promote greater diversity on campus.
Harvard’s wealth divide: Students from wealthy families have the advantage
For centuries, Harvard University has set the gold standard for academic excellence, attracting the brightest young minds throughout the world. From its hallowed halls have emerged influential figures like Barack Obama, Bill Gates and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose contributions have transformed technology, literature, science and politics.
Harvard’s historically high costs have made it challenging for low-income families to access its education, and even the most promising thinkers in the nation sometimes get left out of the pool. As with many top universities, gaining admission to Harvard has often been easier for those with financial security and access to extracurricular support—resources that remain limited for many in the U.S.
Wealth plays a significant role in elite education. One in six Ivy League students comes from families in the top 1%. According to a New York Times article, “For applicants with the same SAT or ACT score, children from families in the top 1[%] were 34[%] more likely to be admitted than the average applicant, and those from the top 0.1[%] were more than twice as likely to get in.”
Harvard to cover housing and meals for families earning less than $100K
Beginning in the 2025/26 academic year, Harvard is making strides to address this gap, which has long created an unsettling and unjust divide in access to top-ranking teaching. Not only will qualifying students from families with incomes below $200,000 soon get free tuition, but students from families earning less than $100,000 will also have their housing and meals paid for if accepted. Thanks to this policy, around 86% of families in the United States will now qualify for financial aid.
“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,” Harvard President Alan Garber said this week in the announcement.
Harvard’s full undergraduate tuition is about $56,550, with around a $12,922 housing rate. Some universities, such as the University of Chicago, exceed these costs, charging up to $67,446 a year. Harvard’s recent decision comes as student loan debt in the U.S. has climbed up to $1.6 trillion—a 42% increase from a decade ago. The Pew Research Center reports that one in four Americans under 40 are currently burdened with student loan debt.
While Harvard has only recently expanded its financial aid program, universities such as the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have already announced free tuition policies for families earning less than $200,000.
The push to improve accessibility to elite education is growing, with universities across the United States working to ensure that young Americans from all backgrounds have a fair chance to attend prestigious institutions. However, exclusive environments at top schools like Harvard, Yale and international universities such as Oxford and Cambridge have historically created barriers. These practices risk reinforcing socio-economic divides, favoring high earners while limiting opportunities for others to climb the social ladder.
Cultural barriers can limit opportunities at elite institutions
Research has shown that this divide is upheld not only through admissions practices but also within the very culture of these institutions. Studies have identified two distinct experiences among lower-income students: the “privileged poor,” who attended preparatory schools before college, and the “doubly disadvantaged,” who come from underfunded public schools. While the privileged poor arrive better equipped to navigate elite academic environments, the doubly disadvantaged often struggle to integrate.
Lower-income students often face challenges adjusting to cultural norms on elite campuses, which can limit their participation in extracurricular activities and weaken their sense of belonging. Expanding accessibility and inclusion during the application process could help institutions break away from exclusionary frameworks. This ties into the concept of “cultural capital,” which suggests that individuals from socially advantaged backgrounds are often better prepared to succeed in elite environments.
For centuries, access to the world’s most prestigious universities has often been shaped by wealth and social privilege. Yet, as institutions like Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania adopt more inclusive policies, the coming years may signal a new era in higher education—one where academic opportunity is defined less by social standing and more by talent, merit and potential. Harvard is still among the most challenging schools to enter in the world, with estimates showing that only 3% of hopeful applicants are ever accepted.
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