SOUTH HADLEY — Mount Holyoke College will offer undergraduate students in the United States free tuition if their family income is below $150,000 a year, a new pledge that begins immediately.
“Mount Holyoke is pushing forward with what we know works: investing in bold future leaders and expanding opportunity at a time when federal support for higher education is being rolled back,” Mount Holyoke College President Danielle R. Holley said in a statement. “Part of the founding vision for the College was that a Mount Holyoke education would be affordable for students from all income levels.”
While the college pledged long ago to meet the financial needs of students, this “Mount Holyoke Commitment” raises the threshold of students who qualify for free tuition, spokesperson Christian Feuerstein said.
“Approximately 75% of American families would qualify for free tuition with the Mount Holyoke Commitment,” said Robin Randall, vice president of enrollment management at Mount Holyoke. “With this initiative, Mount Holyoke offers a clear, transparent message to families concerned about college costs: this won’t stand in the way of a boundless future at Mount Holyoke.”
The initiative launches at a time when undergraduate students worry about access and the affordability of a higher education. Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe college is not accessible to most people, according to a 2025 survey by the Lumina Foundation.
The Mount Holyoke Commitment does not cover other college expenses like room and board, meals or books. Additional financial aid, the Mount Holyoke Commitment webpage said, is based on demonstrated need. The college also offers merit-based scholarship.
Mount Holyoke also factors in financial assets into its financial aid packages, like savings, property ownership and investments. Home equity is capped in the college’s calculations. Prospective and current Mount Holyoke students can calculate tuition payments on the college website.
All current and prospective students can apply for the tuition-free program. Students can recieve free tutition all four years of their undergraduate degree, but must reapply each year.
According to reporting from the New York Times, tuition-free initiatives have been around for decades. However, universities have either increased the number of students eligible or made these programs more public.
Several other college in the commonwealth offer similar tuition-free programs for low-income students. Tufts University recently announced the university would offer the same tuition-free promise starting fall 2026.
The UMass campuses and Brandies University, for instance, cover tuition for all undergraduate students whose families make under $75,000. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology waved tuition for undergraduate students families making under $200,000. Harvard offers the same program as MIT.