Every year I have parents tell me: “I’m not letting my kid apply THERE. Do you have any idea how much that school costs?!?!”
OK: let’s all just calm down a minute. I know what the elite school sticker price appears to be, but I also know this: that sometimes, the most elite schools are so generous with need-based financial aid that attending one of them can end up to be cheaper than attending a local state university. For this reason, I always recommend that students apply to at least one college or university they believe they could never get into. Students, you never know whether you could get in until you try.
(Are you worried about wasting a $75 application fee? Call the university’s admissions office and ask for an “application fee waiver.” In many cases that’s all you have to do to get out of paying a college application fee.)
A recent Bloomberg Business article lists 10 elite universities where middle class kids (defined as coming from a U.S. family of three making between$40,667 and $122,000 in 2013) don’t pay any tuition. At all. You can find the original Bloomberg Business article here.
The article reports this:
“Stanford University announced last week that, starting this fall, students whose families make less than $125,000 a year will not pay any tuition. Previously, the school had set the bar at $100,000. With the move, Stanford has made it possible for more middle-class students to get a degree for what they’d spend in tuition at an in-state, public university (students with a family income above $65,000 a year still have to cover room and board). That makes an admissions offer that’s already among the most coveted in the country even more attractive.”
Parents, listed below in this post you’ll find the hall of fame of the generous. Remember, to increase student chances of being admitted to a university like one of these, click on your child’s age in the WHAT TO DO WHEN section on this website. Return to my website frequently to get more free help each year as you raise kids throughout grades 6-12. Get other parents to jump into this journey with you so that you’ll have help and support along the way. And to make certain that the colleges your child applies to are not just elite, but also “good fit” colleges where your child will be happiest and most successful — pay special careful attention to the instructions I give in the free PDF I have for parents entitled “What to do in January of 10th grade.”
10 Elite Universities Where Middle Class Kids Don’t Pay Any Tuition:
1. Princeton
Tuition for 2015-16: $43,450
Acceptance rate for the Class of 2019: 6.99 percent
Policy: Families making less than $54,000 a year don’t pay tuition, room, or board, and families making less than $120,000 a year don’t pay tuition.
2. Brown
Tuition for 2015-16: $48,272
Acceptance rate for the Class of 2019: 8.5 percent
Policy: Families making less than $60,000 don’t pay tuition, room, or board.
3. Cornell
Tuition for 2015-16: $48,880
Acceptance rate for the Class of 2019: 14.9 percent
Policy: Families making less than $60,000 don’t pay tuition, room, or board.
4. Columbia
Tuition for 2014-15: $51,108
Acceptance rate for the Class of 2019: 6.1 percent
Policy: Families making less than $60,000 don’t pay tuition, room, or board.
5. Duke
Tuition for 2015-16: $47,650
Acceptance rate for the Class of 2019: 11.3 percent
Policy: Families making less than $60,000 don’t pay tuition, room, or board.
6. Harvard
Tuition for 2015-16: $45,278
Acceptance rate for the Class of 2019: 5.3 percent
Policy: Families making less than $65,000 a year don’t pay tuition, room, or board.
7. Yale
Tuition for 2015-16: $47,600
Acceptance rate for the Class of 2019: 6.5 percent
Policy: Families making less than $65,000 a year don’t pay tuition, room, or board.
8. Stanford
Tuition for 2015-16: $45,729
Acceptance rate for the Class of 2019: 5.05 percent
Policy: Families making less than $65,000 a year don’t pay tuition, room, or board, and families making between $65,000 and $125,000 a year don’t pay tuition.
9. MIT
Tuition for 2015-16: $46,704 (includes mandatory fees)
Acceptance rate for the Class of 2019: 8 percent
Policy: Families making less than $75,000 a year don’t pay tuition.
10. Dartmouth
Tuition for 2015-16: $48,120
Acceptance rate for the Class of 2019: 10.3 percent
Policy: Families making less than $100,000 don’t pay tuition.
Sometimes, students can be admitted to great universities for the craziest reasons. In one case I remember, a girl with mediocre grades and test scores was stunned to be admitted to one of the best private colleges in Minnesota. Why? She was an oboe player, and that school just happened to need an oboe player for their band that year. Student, you never know where you could get in until you try.
All this said, please remember that elite education is not necessary to make anyone happy or financially successful in life. Student, if you don’t get into one of these elite institutions, no big deal. To see the emphatic post I’ve written on this subject, click here.
For clear, step-by-step help getting your kid through college debt-free and into a job they love afterward, get your copy of my book:
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Read just one chapter of LAUNCH every 1–3 months while your child’s in middle school and high school, and you’ll know every viable strategy for debt-free college at exactly the right time to implement it.
And if your child’s already well past middle school? That’s OK; you can run to catch up. But the process of getting your kids through college debt-free goes more smoothly the earlier you start it—especially if you’re not planning to save up any money to pay for college.
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Who is Jeannie Burlowski?
Jeannie is a full-time academic strategist, podcast host, and sought-after speaker for students ages 12–26, their parents, and the professionals who serve them. Her writing, speaking, and podcasting help parents set their kids up to graduate college debt-free, ready to jump directly into careers they excel at and love. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Huffington Post, USA Today, Parents Magazine, and US News & World Report, and on CBS News.
Jeannie also helps students apply to law, medical, business, and grad school at her website GetIntoMedSchool.com. You can follow her on Bluesky @jburlowski.bsky.social.
No part of this article was written using AI.