36 Colleges That Offer Free Tuition for Low-Income Students

Per year, the average cost of college can range anywhere from $25,707 to $54,501, says the Education Data Initiative. The same source says that up to 53.5% of the total annual college cost is made up of tuition.

With the bulk of the exorbitant amount of money undergraduate students and their parents shell out every year consisting of tuition, eliminating it can make the cost of earning a bachelor’s degree substantially lower.

It’s a good thing that there are many colleges and universities with tuition-free programs available for students from low-income backgrounds.

Read Also: Should Higher Education Be Free?

The following are some of the ones you may apply to if you want to attend college without paying tuition:

1. Alice Lloyd College

• Location: Pippa Passes, Kentucky
• Acceptance rate: 16%
• Student population: 613

Qualified students at Alice Lloyd College, which is a small private work institution, who are from any of the 108 country service areas are awarded the Appalachian Leaders Scholarship, which is designed to cover tuition costs for up to 10 semesters.

Most similar scholarship programs coming from other higher education institutions are only up to a maximum of 8 semesters.

2. Amherst College

• Location: Amherst, Massachusetts
• Acceptance rate: 9%
• Student population: 1,971

Ranked #2 in National Liberal Arts Colleges by US News, Amherst College says that it meets 100% of the demonstrated need of each and every student. It adds that if the student and his or her family can only pay a small portion of tuition and fees or none at all, it will take care of the rest.

3. Barclay College

• Location: Haviland, Kansas
• Acceptance rate: 48%
• Student population: 215

The Full Tuition Scholarship available at Barclay College, which is a private Quaker institution, needless to say, is a scholarship program designed to take care of 100% of tuition of undergraduate students.

However, to be eligible for it, students must be enrolled full-time and living on campus. So, in other words, they must be paying for room and board.

But the school also offers the President’s Scholar Award to eligible attendees who are living on campus and got a high school GPA of 3.5 or higher. The said award grants money amounting to $1,000 annually.

4. Berea College

• Location: Berea, Kentucky
• Acceptance rate: 33%
• Student population: 1,468

A private liberal arts work college, Berea College guarantees that no undergraduate students pay tuition.

Through its No-Tuition Promise program, 100% of the tuition of all admitted students is covered. For most recipients, the No-Tuition Promise program amounts to more than $176,000 across 4 years.

5. Brown University

• Location: Providence, Rhode Island
• Acceptance rate: 6%
• Student population: 10,696

The Ivy League school allows undergraduate students whose families make less than $60,000 per year and have assets less than $100,000 to attend without shelling out money for tuition and student fees.

As a matter of fact, Brown University also grants scholarship awards equal to the amount of tuition, fees and room and board.

6. College of the Ozarks

• Location: Point Lookout, Missouri
• Acceptance rate: 19%
• Student population: 1,468

Instead of receiving money, undergraduate students attending the College of the Ozarks who wish to take advantage of a tuition-free program, which is referred to as the Tuition Assurance Scholarship, have to work on campus.

Those who are participating in it have to work for 15 hours per week and 2 42-hour work per school year.

7. Columbia University

• Location: New York City, New York
• Acceptance rate: 6%
• Student population: 30,135

Every year, the Ivy League school awards more than $200 million in scholarships and grants.

Undergraduate students whose families make less than $150,000 per year and with typical assets will be able to attend Columbia University free of tuition.

In many instances, doing the math, attending the elite university is actually easier on the pocket than going to a public 4-year institution in the US.

8. Cornell University

• Location: Ithaca, New York
• Acceptance rate: 9%
• Student population: 25,582

For the academic year 2023 to 2024, Cornell University is expecting to award more than $365 million in need-based grant aid, which requires no repayment, to over 7,000 undergraduate students.

According to the Ivy League school, students from families whose annual income is less than $60,000 and with typical assets for this income range are guaranteed to have parent contribution and student loans amounting to $0.

9. Dartmouth College

• Location: Hanover, New Hampshire
• Acceptance rate: 6%
• Student population: 6,761

The Ivy League institution says that students from families whose annual income is $125,000 or less and possessing typical assets will receive scholarships that will cover at least tuition.

Meanwhile, those whose families make less than $65,000 per year and who possess typical assets for this income range will not have any expected parent contribution toward educational costs. Awards, however, do not include student loans.

10. Davidson College

• Location: Davidson, North Carolina
• Acceptance rate: 18%
• Student population: 1,973

Merit-based scholarships offered by Davidson College, which is a small private liberal arts college, involve awards that range anywhere from $2,000 to the full annual cost of attendance.

So, in other words, eligible undergraduate students can attend not only tuition-free but also without paying for other college attendance-related costs.

However, only around 4% of each enrolling class will be offered a scholarship by the institution.

11. Duke University

• Location: Durham, North Carolina
• Acceptance rate: 6%
• Student population: 17,620

Ranked by US News #10 in National Universities, Duke University is committed to making high-quality undergraduate education accessible to low-income students.

So much so that students whose families make less than $60,000 per year have $0 contribution. On the other hand, those from families whose incomes are below $40,000 are able to graduate debt-free.

12. Harvard University

• Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Acceptance rate: 4%
• Student population: 21,648

The highly prestigious and selective school says that students from families whose income is less than $75,000 per year can attend as undergraduate students without paying anything.

Even those whose families make more than $150,000 per year may still be eligible to receive financial aid, lowering the cost of attendance.

According to Harvard University, attending it costs less than going to a public school for over 90% of students.

13. Haverford College

• Location: Haverford, Pennsylvania
• Acceptance rate: 18%
• Student population: 1,420

In 2016, Haverford College established the Low-Income, First in their Families Assistance and Resources (LIFTFAR) Program.

As the name suggests, it makes it possible for students from low-income families and first to attend college to obtain financial assistance for emergency constraints that fall outside of their overall financial aid packages.

14. Lafayette College

• Location: Easton, Pennsylvania
• Acceptance rate: 41%
• Student population: 2,725

To meet 100% of its students’ demonstrated need, Lafayette College, which is a private liberal arts school, vows replace federal loans with grants and work-study for first-year undergraduate students entering Lafayette for the academic year 2022 to 2023 with a total family income up to $150,000 and with typical family assets for their income levels.

15. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Acceptance rate: 4%
• Student population: 11,934

Around 60% of all MIT’s undergraduate students are from low-income backgrounds, says the private research university itself.

For attendees whose families make less than $140,000 per year and with typical assets, too, MIT sees to it that they will receive scholarships that will enable them to attend tuition-free.

16. Miami University

• Location: Oxford, Ohio
• Acceptance rate: 89%
• Student population: 19,216

Undergraduate students at Miami University may take advantage of the Miami Access Initiative.

A grants and scholarships program designed for Ohio residents, it ensures that academically competitive students from families that make $35,000 or less per year pay $0 in tuition and fees.

Last year, around 16% of all first-time, first-year students at Miami University attended the institution tuition-free.

17. Michigan State University

• Location: East Lansing, Michigan
• Acceptance rate: 83%
• Student population: 49,659

At Michigan State University, undergraduate students from families that make less than $26,000 per year, which also allows them to qualify for the maximum federal Pell Grant, are eligible for a scholarship program that covers tuition and others.

Eligible students can attend the public research university tuition-free for up to 8 semesters.

18. Princeton University

• Location: Princeton, New Jersey
• Acceptance rate: 4%
• Student population: 8,478

For students whose families make less than $100,000 per year, it’s not just tuition that’s free but many other college-related costs, too, including room and board.

According to the Ivy League school, about 25% of all its undergraduate students are attending free of charge.

19. Rice University

• Location: Houston, Texas
• Acceptance rate: 9%
• Student population: 8,285

In 2018, Rice University, which is ranked #15 in National Universities by US News, announced that undergraduate students from families that make less than $130,000 per year will pay no tuition. Such is under the financial aid program known as The Rice Investment, which is also designed to help reduce the burden of student debt.

20. Soka University of America

• Location: Aliso Viejo, California
• Acceptance rate: 53%
• Student population: 445

According to the small private liberal arts college, undergraduate students whose families make $60,000 or less per year can attend Soka University at no cost.

Having a total endowment of $562.8 million, the institution says eligible students will still have to shoulder room and board out of pocket, although it could be reduced by financial aid.

21. Stanford University

• Location: Stanford, California
• Acceptance rate: 4%
• Student population: 17,680

Commonly mistaken as an Ivy League, Stanford University says that almost 50% of its undergraduates receive financial aid.

It adds that students from families that make less than $150,000 per year and possess assets typical of the said income level can attend tuition-free. Meanwhile, tuition and room and board, too, are free for families making less than $100,000 per year.

22. Swarthmore College

• Location: Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
• Acceptance rate: 8%
• Student population: 1,651

According to the private liberal arts college itself, it meets 100% of the determined financial need of its students.

What Swarthmore College does is it adds up the cost of attendance — from tuition, student fees, transportation to room and board — in order to determine what the student’s family can reasonably pay.

23. Texas A&M University

• Location: College Station, Texas
• Acceptance rate: 64%
• Student population: 72,530

Ranked #67 in National Universities by US News, Texas A&M University has what’s known as the Aggie Assurance.

Simply put, the program, through scholarships and grants, covers the tuition of undergraduate students whose families make $60,000 or less per year as well as meet all other eligibility requirements.

24. Texas Tech University

• Location: Lubbock, Texas
• Acceptance rate: 68%
• Student population: 40,542

In an attempt to increase access to higher education, Texas Tech University came up with the Red Raider Guarantee.

Undergraduate students who are eligible for it will have their tuition and mandatory fees up to 30 credits per year covered by a combination of federal, state and institutional funds.

Some eligibility requirements to meet include being a Texas resident and coming from a family whose annual income is $65,000 or less.

25. United States Military Schools

• Location: Varies
• Acceptance rate: Varies
• Student population: Varies

Cadets — what students attending US military schools are referred to — can pursue undergraduate degrees without paying any tuition.

As a matter of fact, at some institutions and in some instances, they also receive salary and room and board and others per year. However, cadets are expected to provide service for a certain number of years after graduation.

Some of the US military institutions with tuition-free programs include:

• Air Force Academy
• United States Coast Guard Academy
• United States Merchant Marine Academy
• United States Military Academy – West Point
• United States Naval Academy

26. University of California System

• Location: Varies
• Acceptance rate: Varies
• Student population: Varies

Students attending the University of California system may take advantage of The University of California Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan, which covers tuition and fees.

Eligibility requirements include coming from a family whose income is less than $80,000 per year and, of course, being a resident of the state of California.

27. University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

• Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Acceptance rate: 19%
• Student population: 31,733

There’s an opportunity for undergraduate students to graduate from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill debt-free through what the flagship of the University of North Carolina system refers to as the Carolina Covenant.

One main eligibility requirement is being from a family with a total income that is at or below 200% of the poverty guideline.

28. University of Pennsylvania

• Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Acceptance rate: 6%
• Student population: 23,431

The Ivy League school says that undergraduate students from low-income backgrounds making less than $65,500 per year as well as with typical assets receive financial aid packages that cover many different college-related costs, including tuition.

It adds that they may also be eligible for additional perks such as summer opportunities and laptop funds.

29. University of Texas – Austin

• Location: Austin, Texas
• Acceptance rate: 29%
• Student population: 51,991

Thanks to an endowment established in 2019, those who are going to the University of Texas – Austin can enjoy tuition-free attendance, provided that they are in-state students.

It’s also a must for their families to be making $65,000 or less per year. Students from families with annual incomes of up to $125,000 may also be eligible for some tuition support.

30. University of Virginia

• Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
• Acceptance rate: 21%
• Student population: 26,026

In 2019, the University of Virginia, which is a public research university ranked #25 in National Universities by US News, came up with a full-tuition scholarship for undergraduate students from families that make up to $80,000 per year. However, in-state students are the only ones who are eligible for it.

31. University of Washington

• Location: Seattle, Washington
• Acceptance rate: 53%
• Student population: 52,439

At the University of Washington, there’s a program called the Husky Promise.

Reserved for residents of the state of Washington only, the program guarantees to pay full tuition as well as standard fees in the form of grants and scholarships.

The public research university adds that the awards increase if tuition and fees do. Other eligibility requirements include being enrolled full-time and pursuing a bachelor’s degree for the first time.

32. Washington & Lee University

• Location: Lexington, Virginia
• Acceptance rate: 19%
• Student population: 2,238

The W&L Promise — basically, it’s something that guarantees a minimum grant of tuition to students admitted to Washington & Lee University whose family income amounts to below $125,000 and assets are typical for such income.

Some undergraduates may also be eligible for additional grants that cover other educational expenses like room and board.

33. Washington State University

• Location: Pullman, Washington
• Acceptance rate: 86%
• Student population: 29,843

According to Washington State University itself, an undergraduate student from a family of 4 with an income of $64,500 or less per year will get a full award, which, needless to say, covers tuition costs.

What’s really nice about the said scholarship program is that it’s available for both full-time and part-time students, although it’s important for them to be Washington residents and enrolled in an approved program.

34. Wellesley College

• Location: Wellesley, Massachusetts
• Acceptance rate: 16%
• Student population: 2,461

A private women’s liberal arts school ranked #5 in National Liberal Arts Colleges by US News, Wellesley College says that it meets 100% of the demonstrated need of its attendees.

Undergraduate students who are eligible for scholarships only pay what their families can afford. As of this writing, almost 60% of all students receive financial aid.

35. William & Mary

• Location: Williamsburg, Virginia
• Acceptance rate: 37%
• Student population: 9,517

Starting the academic year 2023 to 2024, all in-state undergraduate students attending William & Mary who are Pell Grant-eligible will have at least their tuition and mandatory fees covered.

According to the school itself, which US News ranks #41 in National Universities, around 17% of its students are Pell Grant recipients.

36. Yale University

• Location: New Haven, Connecticut
• Acceptance rate: 5%
• Student population: 14,567

According to the top-tier institution itself, its most generous financial aid package is something that allows undergraduate students to attend at absolutely no cost if their family’s income per year is below $75,000 and possess typical assets.

Some students from families that make more than $200,000 per year also receive need-based aid from the Ivy League.