MIT to waive tuition for families making under $200K

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Wednesday it will waive tuition for students from families that earn less than $200,000 a year starting next fall.

The elite Cambridge college estimated that 80% of U.S. households fall into this category.

The private school also announced it will cover tuition, housing, dining and “an allowance for books and personal expenses” for the 50% of households estimated to have annual incomes below $100,000.

“The cost of college is a real concern for families across the board, and we’re determined to make this transformative educational experience available to the most talented students, whatever their financial circumstances,” MIT President Sally Kornbluth said. “So, to every student out there who dreams of coming to MIT: Don’t let concerns about cost stand in your way.”

The news comes as public and private colleges nationwide have hiked tuition to cope with falling enrollments and rising operating costs since the COVID-19 pandemic.

As declining birth rates and inflation have driven down the number of college applicants, more private schools have announced free tuition to compete for top students in recent years.

Ivy League schools Princeton, Harvard and Yale also offer a free ride to families making less than $100,000 annually.

According to the latest information from the Education Data Initiative, MIT charged $57,986 for tuition in 2022-23, well above the $39,400 average for four-year private universities.

With an endowment estimated at $24.6 billion this year, MIT has long been able to provide discounts to need-based students because it doesn’t depend on tuition dollars to stay open. It’s one of nine U.S. colleges that don’t factor applicants’ ability to pay into admissions decisions and that pledge to meet 100% of undergraduate financial needs.

The trick has been getting into the highly selective university, which accepts only 4% of applicants each year.

The school reported Wednesday that the average MIT undergraduate receiving financial aid paid $12,938 last year, letting 87% of students graduate debt-free. 

Graduates earn an average starting salary of $126,438 a year as they enter technological industries, according to the school’s most recent survey of departing seniors.

“With the need-based financial aid we provide today, our education is much more affordable now than at any point in the past, even though the sticker price of MIT is higher now than it was when I was an undergraduate,” said Stu Schmill, MIT’s dean of admissions and a 1986 graduate of the school.