Timothy Peck May 18, 2023 7 11th Grade,12th Grade,Financial Aid,Scholarships

Colleges with Free Tuition for Low-Income Students in 2023

What’s Covered:

• Can Low-Income Students Afford College?
• Colleges With Generous Financial Aid
• What Are Your Chances of Acceptance?

Cost can be a formidable obstacle for many students when picking a college. The mere thought of paying for each semester or taking out student loans can seem overwhelming—but while college is expensive, there are plenty of funding opportunities for low-income students.

In this post, we’ll cover some great college options for low-income students, including programs that offer full rides!

Can Low-Income Students Afford College?

The sticker price of a college is not what most students pay, especially at selective private schools, which often have generous financial aid programs. Some students are even able to go to college for free through financial aid or merit scholarships.

Financial aid offerings are different from merit scholarships. Financial aid is based entirely on demonstrated need, while scholarships are typically offered based on a student’s achievements (though need is sometimes considered). Some scholarships are only offered to students who fit certain requirements, like age, grade, relation to a certain company’s employee, ethnic background, location, gender, and more.

In your search for an affordable college experience, you’ll also likely see the terms “full ride” and “full tuition” arise frequently. Full tuition is exactly what it sounds like: tuition, and tuition alone, paid in full via a scholarship. Room, board, and other external costs like school fees, book fees, and lab fees are not included. Full rides, however, are virtually all-encompassing. They cover all costs of attending, including housing, meals, transportation, and books.

Even when college is fully funded, there are still barriers to low-income students. Some need to support their families. There is also the opportunity cost of going to college instead of working a job right out of high school or getting a job certification more quickly through an associate’s degree or trade school.

That being said, if you are able to attend college and hope to do so, here are some options for you.

Colleges With Generous Financial Aid Programs

QuestBridge Partner Schools

QuestBridge is a college scholarship program for high-achievers from low-income families. These students are given the opportunity to “match” with one of 40 top universities. Matched students are offered a full ride for all four years, which covers tuition, transportation, books, and more.

QuestBridge-eligible students should have primarily As in the most challenging classes available to them, and they typically come from households earning less than $65,000 for a family of four. This is not a strict cutoff, however; if you’ve experienced significant financial hardship, you should review the other financial criteria carefully to see if you’re eligible.

Partnered schools are listed below:

Colleges That Meet 100% Need

Colleges that meet 100% of demonstrated need cover the difference between the cost of attendance and your family’s Estimated Family Contribution (EFC). As part of your financial aid package, you will receive grants (which don’t need to be repaid) and sometimes loans. In some cases, you may be expected to contribute toward meeting this need through a work-study program.

The following colleges meet 100% of demonstrated need with a no-loan policy:

The following schools have a policy of charging nothing at all for students whose families make under a certain amount:

• Colgate University: Students with annual family income below $80,000 attend tuition-free while students with annual family incomes between $80,000 and $175,000 pay a percentage of annual income toward tuition.

• Cornell University: Students with a total family income of less than $60,000 and total assets below $100,000 require no parental contribution.

• Haverford College: Students with family income below $60,000 a year will not have loans included in their financial aid package.

• Lafayette College: Has no loans for students with total family incomes up to $150,000 and with typical family assets for their income levels.

• Texas A&M University: Students whose family income is $60,000 or less attend tuition-free while tuition support grants are available to students from families with income between $60,000 and $130,000.

• Texas State University: Students from families with adjusted gross incomes less than $50,000 receive free tuition and mandatory fees for up to 15 credit hours.

• Tufts University: Students with an annual family income of less than $60,000 typically receive a financial aid package with no student loans.

• University of California System: The nine schools of the University of California System—Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles (UCLA), Merced, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz—waive tuition and fees for state residents with total family incomes less than $80,000 a year.

• University of Chicago: Students from families earning less than $60,000 per year will have tuition, fees, and room and board covered by financial aid while students from families earning less than $125,000 per year (with typical assets) receive financial aid awards covering the full cost of tuition.

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: In-state students with a total income less than $67,100 and assets below $50,000 have tuition and fees covered.

• University of Michigan – Ann Arbor: High-achieving, in-state, full-time students with a total income less than $65,000 and assets below $50,000 receive free tuition.

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC): Students from families with total incomes at or below 200% of the poverty guideline may qualify to attend and graduate from UNC-Chapel Hill debt-free.

• University of Texas – Dallas: Students with a family income below $65,000 have their full tuition covered.

• University of Texas – El Paso: Texas residents with a family adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less do not pay tuition or mandatory fees.

• University of Tennessee: Tuition and mandatory fees are covered for students whose family income is under $60,000 a year.

• University of Vermont: College-bound Vermont students whose parents’ adjusted gross income is $60,000 or less have their tuition and comprehensive fee waived.

• Washington University in St. Louis: Full-time students from Missouri and southern Illinois students who are either Pell Grant-eligible or come from families with $75,000 or less annual income receive a free undergraduate education (tuition, fees, housing, and food).

• Wellesley College: Students with parental income under $100,000 receive a financial aid package with no loans.

• Wesleyan University: The university has a no-loan policy for students whose parental income is $120,000 or less, with typical assets of $400,000 or less.

Schools With Generous Merit Aid

While merit aid isn’t usually income-based, low-income students can also get full rides based on their academic and extracurricular performance alone. High-achieving students with a lower chance of receiving financial aid from a college or their families may benefit from these opportunities as well.

A number of generous scholarships are available to National Merit Finalists at schools like Texas Tech, the University of Idaho, the University of Arkansas, the University of Houston, and the University of New Mexico. Similarly, National Merit Semifinalists can get full rides at the University of Alabama and the University of Arizona. Fordham University offers up to full tuition for semifinalists.

Meanwhile, other schools offer full rides based on standardized test scores alone. Some colleges also offer full rides on a more holistic basis.

Community College

While not a four-year college, community colleges can be an excellent way to get an affordable (and sometimes free education) while staying close to home.

These 33 states offer free community college, though eligibility may depend on academic merit, income, degrees pursued, and other factors:

1. Arkansas
2. California
3. Connecticut
4. Delaware
5. Georgia
6. Hawaii
7. Indiana
8. Iowa
9. Kansas
10. Kentucky
11. Louisiana
12. Maine
13. Maryland
14. Michigan
15. Mississippi
16. Missouri
17. Montana
18. Nevada
19. New Jersey
20. New Mexico
21. New York
22. North Carolina
23. Oklahoma
24. Oregon
25. Rhode Island
26. South Carolina
27. South Dakota
28. Tennessee
29. Vermont
30. Virginia
31. Washington
32. West Virginia
33.  Wyoming

If you have your sights set on a four-year university, community college is also an excellent way to take care of your general education requirements on the cheap before transferring to a great four-year school. Some schools even offer guaranteed transfer programs, in which community college students who meet a certain university’s academic requirements are offered an automatic spot as collegiate upperclassmen.

What Are Your Chances of Acceptance?

Many of the schools listed above, especially the ones with generous financial aid offerings, are highly selective, and are reach schools for most students. We recommend a balanced list of 8-12 schools, with 25% being safety schools, 40% target schools, and 35% reach schools.

At least two of your safeties should offer sufficient aid, whether merit- or need-based. Many smaller, lower-ranked schools will give generous merit aid to top students, and some in-state public schools have tuition assistance for low-income families.

It’s often tricky to gauge which schools are safeties, targets, and reaches, especially because a school’s posted acceptance rate doesn’t truly reflect your individual shot at attending. Our free chancing engine considers your stats, background, and extracurriculars and can help you more accurately assess your odds of acceptance—helping you identify safety, target, and reach schools.