Stanford offers a tuition break to middle class

Stanford University on Wednesday became the latest elite institution to announce a big boost in financial aid for undergraduates from the middle class.

The university would give free tuition to most undergraduates from families earning less than $100,000 a year, and a complete package of tuition, room and board to those whose household incomes are less than $60,000.

Tuition next year is $36,030. Room and board add $11,182.

The policy makes Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif., one of a small string of top-tier schools, including Harvard, Yale and Pomona College in California, that have taken steps recently to help middle-class families and, in some cases, households with incomes of more than $150,000.

Stanford's new plan would eliminate all loans for needy students, officials said.

For the 15 percent to 20 percent of its 6,689 undergraduates from families earning less than $60,000, Stanford would cover the full $47,212 in tuition, room and board.

Except for those with very high assets, families earning between $60,000 and $100,000 would have the $36,030 tuition waived next year. Some aid also would be available to wealthier families.

Karen Cooper, Stanford's financial-aid director, said the goal is that no high-school senior should rule out Stanford because of cost worries.

Students whose tuition, room and board are paid for will be expected to contribute about $4,500 a year from summer earnings and on-campus work, she said. For students whose tuition is waived, the university will continue to judge family assets and circumstances in determining aid.

Only about 24 schools in the United States can afford to join the race to boost financial aid so dramatically, said Terry Hartle, a senior vice president with the American Council on Education. "Most private colleges and universities simply don't have those resources," he said.

Stanford raised the most in donations last year, with $832 million, besting second-place Harvard by $220 million, according to a survey by the Council for Aid to Education.

Princeton in 2001 was a pioneer in the aid movement by eliminating loans in all aid packages and offering more grants to families with incomes as high as $200,000. Yale and Harvard recently made education and living costs free to students from households earning less than $60,000 and adopted plans that would help upper-middle-income families.

Such announcements have not silenced congressional critics who want colleges to draw more from their tax-exempt endowments.

"I hope we're seeing a trend and a shift in thinking. Spending a little more on students won't break the bank for well-funded schools," said Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate's Finance Committee.

Material from The New York Times is included in this report.