Harvard to offer free tuition to families making $200k or below

Harvard announced that starting next fall, students whose families earn $200,000 per year or less would not pay tuition, and those whose families earn $100,000 or less would receive free food, housing, health insurance and travel.

The Ivy League school is broadening its financial aid packages following other elite schools like MIT, Penn and the University of Texas that have recently boosted aid for middle-income families.

Harvard previously covered these costs for families with incomes under $85,000.

Over 100 universities across the US have implemented similar tuition-free policies to attract more diverse students. According to Harvard, more than 85% of families in the country would qualify for financial aid.

However, experts note that the cost of attending college has skyrocketed, with private universities averaging $43,000 annually, according to US News & World Report data. This is a 169% increase since 1980, per a Georgetown University report.

Ivy League schools enroll fewer than 1% of college students in the country, so the broader impact may be limited.