Today, ե֭ announced the ե֭ 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 ե֭’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 ե֭ 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, ե֭ will be fully tuition free. This move puts ե֭ 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 ե֭ 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 ե֭ 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 ե֭ Commitment assume typical asset levels for those incomes.)
By making a ե֭ education more affordable, the University anticipates the ե֭ 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 ե֭ believed their financial aid offers were superior to that of their other choices. Of that group, 60% indicated that ե֭’s value was far superior to their other options.
“Families and their students need to know that the cost of a transformative education at ե֭ is affordable. I hope this new commitment, along with its strong alumni support, shows that ե֭ 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 ե֭ Commitment has been provided by generous members of the ե֭ community, through the ե֭ 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 ե֭ education is an initiative that so many alumni are tremendously proud to support,” says ե֭ Alumni Council President Christian B. Johnson ’02. “We know first-hand how ե֭ can change lives, and now we are all part of a movement to make it even more affordable for generations to come.”