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Today, ���߲ݴ�ý University announced the ���߲ݴ�ý Commitment: An Initiative in Access and Affordability. The new policy provides full tuition support for the lowest-income students, aligns income and tuition costs for families with incomes between $80,000 and $150,000, and expands the no-loan initiative to $150,000, beginning with the Class of 2026.

The announcement comes on the heels of ���߲ݴ�ý’s record-breaking admission season, which saw a 104% increase in applications for the Class of 2025. This increase is attributable to a variety of factors, including the no-loan initiative, which replaces federal loans with ���߲ݴ�ý grants in aid packages. The initiative launched in fall 2020 for students with family incomes up to $125,000, a level that impacted 474 students.

For families with annual income levels of $80,000 or less, ���߲ݴ�ý will be fully tuition free. This move puts ���߲ݴ�ý in a small group of universities — including Brown, Duke, Harvard, and Stanford — that publicly pledge to be tuition free for their lowest-income students.

The ���߲ݴ�ý Commitment also targets lower- and middle-income families, who often face difficult conversations about choosing college based on net costs. Because such families might rule out a school like ���߲ݴ�ý based on perceived cost, the University commits to charge only a reasonable percentage of family income toward tuition.

Families with annual income levels between $80,000 and $125,000 will, on average, now pay just 5% of their income toward tuition. Families with annual income levels between $125,000 and $150,000 will, on average, pay 10% of their income toward tuition. (All levels of the ���߲ݴ�ý Commitment assume typical asset levels for those incomes.)

By making a ���߲ݴ�ý education more affordable, the University anticipates the ���߲ݴ�ý Commitment will have a positive effect on attracting and yielding top students.

The Admitted Student Survey and a preliminary analysis of the impact of the no-loan policy revealed that 78% of no-loan–eligible students who chose ���߲ݴ�ý believed their financial aid offers were superior to that of their other choices. Of that group, 60% indicated that ���߲ݴ�ý’s value was far superior to their other options.

“Families and their students need to know that the cost of a transformative education at ���߲ݴ�ý is affordable. I hope this new commitment, along with its strong alumni support, shows that ���߲ݴ�ý cares about attracting the best and brightest students regardless of their financial situation,” says Dean of Admission Tara Bubble.

Initial funding of $1 million for the ���߲ݴ�ý Commitment has been provided by generous members of the ���߲ݴ�ý community, through the ���߲ݴ�ý Fund. The University will seek an additional $25 million in gifts to the endowment during the next three years to fund the program in perpetuity.

“I can say without a doubt that increasing access to a ���߲ݴ�ý education is an initiative that so many alumni are tremendously proud to support,” says ���߲ݴ�ý Alumni Council President Christian B. Johnson ’02. “We know first-hand how ���߲ݴ�ý can change lives, and now we are all part of a movement to make it even more affordable for generations to come.”