15 Well-Known Colleges That Offer Free Tuition To Middle-Class Families

With the shocking cost of college tuition these days, many hoping to earn a degree are wondering if it's worth it, or even fiscally possible.

Fortunately, more elite colleges have been adjusting their policies to cover tuition for middle-class students, making college possible for more Americans (and creating a way to keep more cash in your wallet while attending).

Here are 15 highly respected schools that offer free degrees for middle-class students.

Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, students whose families make less than $75,000 annually will receive total grants and scholarships that cover the cost of full tuition at Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

Students whose families earn less than $200,000 will receive grants and scholarships to cover 50% of their tuition.

At the famed New England Ivy, Brown University students whose families earn less than $125,000 annually can expect to have their full tuition covered.

Students whose families earn less than $60,000 annually will have their tuition, plus room, board, and other expenses, covered through scholarships.

Carnegie Mellon's CMU Pathway Program, which will go into effect for the 2025-2026 school year, will fully cover tuition for students whose families earn $75,000 or less annually.

Students whose families earn $100,000 or less per year don't qualify for full coverage, but the university states that 100% of their demonstrated financial need will be met through financial aid offers that do not include taking out federal student loans.

Students who land an acceptance letter from prestigious Columbia University in New York City will also be able to secure free tuition if their family earns less than $150,000 annually.

Students whose families make less than $125,000 annually will receive a financial aid package at Dartmouth that requires no parent contribution.

Students may be expected to contribute to tuition based on jobs they hold during the summer or school year, but full needs will be met without the students having to take out loans.

In the fall of 2023, Duke began covering full tuition for undergraduate students from North and South Carolina whose family incomes were $150,000 or less annually.

For admitted students from the Carolinas whose families earn less than $65,000, the school will cover tuition through grants, as well as financial assistance without student loans for housing, meals, and other college expenses.

Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, students accepted to Harvard can attend for free if their families earn $200,000 or less annually. These students qualify for "Free Tuition Plus," which covers tuition and may offer additional financial aid for things like fees and housing based on individual needs.

Students whose families earn less than $100,000 qualify for free tuition, fees, food, housing, and more.

MIT will begin allowing students with family incomes less than $200,000 to attend for free beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. The cost of tuition will be covered by grants and scholarships.

Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, The NYU Promise program ensured that all undergraduate students who started as first-year students on the New York campus would have their tuition covered if their families earned less than $100,000 annually.

Back in the fall of 2023, Princeton upgraded its financial aid program to cover the full tuition, room, and board through grants for students whose families earn less than $100,000 annually.

It was the first university in the U.S. to eliminate loans from its aid packages, and in the most recent school year, all families with annual incomes up to $180,000 qualified for some sort of aid.

At Stanford, accepted students whose families earn less than $150,000 annually qualify to have their full tuition covered. If a student's family earns less than $100,000, the school covers room and board as well.

The University of Chicago takes it one step further, offering free tuition to students whose families earn less than $125,000 per year and those who are the first in their families to attend college.

If a student's family earns less than $60,000 annually, they can expect tuition, fees, housing, and meals to be covered.

Students who qualify for in-state tuition and have a family income of $125,000 or less will qualify to have their tuition and university fees covered at the University of Michigan starting in fall 2025. Housing, meals, and other expenses are not covered under the new program.

The University of Pennsylvania is another top-notch school moving to make Ivy League education accessible to students in the 2025-2026 school year.

Starting in the fall, the school will offer full tuition scholarships to students whose families make $200,000 or less per year. They also removed a home equity evaluation from the financial aid assessment process.

In late 2024, schools in the University of Texas system agreed to cover the full tuition and fees for in-state undergraduate students whose families earn $100,000 or less.

The rules will go into effect in the fall 2025 semester, and students whose families earn $125,000 or less may qualify for tuition support as well.

Attending a renowned university can really set you up to get ahead financially in the future, but many college-age students and their families fear they simply will not be able to afford it.

According to the Education Data Initiative, in-state students attending a public 4-year institution and living on campus spend $27,146 for just one academic year on average. That means more and more middle-class families may be able to afford the country's top universities by expanding tuition aid packages.