Higher Education Costs and Student Debt

Yale will waive tuition and, for U.S. families earning up to $100,000, eliminate all costs including room and board, and will provide enough aid to fully cover tuition for families earning up to $200,000 beginning in the 2026–27 academic year. The university — which enrolls about 6,800 undergraduates (roughly 1,000 already attend tuition‑free and just over half receive need‑based aid) — raised its free‑tuition cutoff from $75,000 and joins peers like Harvard, MIT, Penn and Emory amid national concerns over college affordability (median U.S. household income ~$105,800, average net annual four‑year college cost ~$30,000 after aid, and nearly 43 million federal student‑loan borrowers).