Nearly 30 percent of MIT undergraduates will not pay tuition next academic year under a far-reaching financial aid initiative announced Friday, the latest in a host of expanded need-based programs at elite colleges and universities.
The new policy waives tuition and replaces loans with grants to cover expenses outside tuition for students whose families earn less than $75,000 a year.
“Those students graduate debt-free,” said Kirk Kolenbrander, vice president for institute affairs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Financial aid recipients will also have to work fewer hours at work-study jobs as part of their assistance packages.
About 60 percent of MIT students receive university assistance, reducing the average net tuition to about $8,100. That amount “approximates the in-state cost of many public universities,” said Daniel Hastings, dean for undergraduate education.