Yale University Announces Free Tuition for Families with Incomes Below $200,000

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Published by Stephen Oluwadara at January 28, 2026

Yale University Significant Financial Aid Program for Undergraduates

“I am thrilled that Yale is making this important investment in affordability,” Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid, Jeremiah Quinlan, said. “With this announcement, we reiterate and reinforce Yale’s commitment to ensuring that cost will never be a barrier between promising students and a Yale College education.”

Since 2010, Yale has offered financial aid awards known as “zero parent share” awards. These awards provide eligible families with scholarship grants that cover the full cost of all billed expenses — tuition, housing, and the meal plan. They also cover estimated travel costs, hospitalization insurance coverage, and a $2,000 start-up grant.

In 2020, Yale raised the income threshold for zero-parent share awards from $65,000 to $75,000. This made it eligible for over 15 million American families with school-aged children.

Raising the threshold again to $100,000 would mean nearly half of all American households with children ages 6-17 would now qualify for a financial aid package. This also does not require parents to contribute anything toward a student’s education.

Under the new policy, families with incomes under $200,000 would be eligible for a Yale scholarship that covers at least the cost of tuition. More than 80% of American households fall into this category.

Yale’s Plan to Increase Transparency Around Costs

Currently, more than 1,000 Yale College students receive a zero-parent-share award, and 56% of all undergraduate students qualify for need-based aid from Yale, said Kari DiFonzo, Director of Undergraduate Financial Aid. The average grant for all students receiving aid in the current academic year exceeds the annual cost of tuition.

“Yale makes a special effort to support students with the greatest financial need,” added DiFonzo. “Beyond generous financial aid offers, Yale provides extra grants for students to purchase winter clothing, to pursue summer experiences abroad, and to respond to unexpected financial hardships.”

Both Quinlan and DiFonzo believe the new policies will provide additional clarity to families navigating the college admissions and financial aid processes.

“From my personal experience as a first-generation, low-income college student, I know that navigating financial aid can feel overwhelming,” said DiFonzo. “Determining a family’s specific ability to contribute towards a college education can be complicated, but these new policies will make it easier for more families to quickly understand their cost.”

Quinlan highlighted the university’s other efforts to increase transparency around costs. In October, Yale launched a new “Instant Net Price Estimator,” an online tool designed to help prospective undergraduate students and their families get a clearer picture of their expected cost to attend Yale in seconds.

The tool complements Yale’s MyinTuition Quick Cost Estimator, which produces personalized estimates in under three minutes and has generated hundreds of thousands of cost estimates for prospective students since 2018.

“For more than 60 years, Yale has considered applicants without regard to their ability to pay and has provided scholarship support to meet families’ full financial need,” said Dean of Yale College Pericles Lewis. “This approach has been instrumental in attracting the most talented, ambitious, and dynamic undergraduates to Yale.”